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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27327619">Inferno — Wooyoung</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/yolkyeomie/pseuds/yolkyeomie'>yolkyeomie</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>ATEEZ (Band), K-pop</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adventure &amp; Romance, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Alternative Universe - Kingdom, Angst and Drama, Angst and Humor, Drama &amp; Romance, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, I'm Bad At Tagging, Mild Blood, Mild Language, Minor Romance, Non-Graphic Violence, Not Beta Read, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Possible Character Death, Princes &amp; Princesses, Romance is a subplot, Typos, based off of a book</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 22:43:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>23,168</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27327619</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/yolkyeomie/pseuds/yolkyeomie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Burn the man born with the silver spoon, for what he has been given is the result of a flaming lie that has yet to flicker and die</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jung Wooyoung/Original Female Character(s), Kang Yeosang/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. When I’m King</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>this is a ateez fic based off of the book series red queen! At the moment of writing this, I haven't actually finished the series because I'm busy (lazy) most of the time so we'll just see where this goes for now :)</p><p>Lots of the terminology and locations from the original series has been changed to fit the narrative for ateez and atiny but the general premise of it hasn’t! Almost everything that’s been changed will be explained in the writing tho so I hope you enjoy :D</p>
    </blockquote><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>After a moment he gave her a nervous smile, unsure of the answer he was trying to present to her. "The silvers, who are our top priority, and the reds, who are beneath us.”</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"What do you want to do when you become king?" The boy is asked. He looked up from his dangling feet and rolled up shorts to stare at the woman who asked him such questions, staring with wide wondering eyes. The woman continued to smile at him as he did so, never even daring to wash her face clean of the smile on her lips.</p><p>"When I'm... king?" He asked her, a pout forming as he spoke. He didn't know how to respond to her, such a heavy question to lay on a small child's heart.</p><p>"Yes, when you're king," She answered him, sitting up from where she sat on the boy's luxuriously oversized bed. The woman paced around the room with a content smile on her face, gazing at every expensive piece of jewelry and every photo of the royal family as she did. "One day, your father will set his crown upon your head," She told him, mocking the action of playing a crown on the child's head. "And you will become king of Norta... how exciting!"</p><p>"But becoming king," the boy began to complain, watching as the woman turned her head around with skepticism and confusion crossing her face. "It won't be fun being king."</p><p>She smiled at him once again, holding out her arms and wrapping them around the boy into a tight hug. "Nonsense!" She told him, lifting him into her arms and pacing around the room with him. "Being king is just as fun as being prince. Dare I say... it's even better than being a prince."</p><p>"Better?" The child gasped, his eyes sparkling with stars. "It's even better than being a prince? But... how?"</p><p>Her eyes twinkled with satisfaction as she began to think, her brain conjuring up all sorts of things to tell the child. "Being the king means you can do whatever you want. No one is allowed to deny you and no one is allowed to hurt you. You're free to do whatever your little heart," She paused, tapping the boy's chest right where his heart was," desires you to do. The king has full control of what happens in our fair kingdom of Norta as long as he is a good and just king to the people with his queen by his side."</p><p>"Wow...," He mumbled, thinking of all the fun he could have as king. "I can do all of that as a king? Then I want to be king right now!" He exclaimed, worming his way out of the woman's grasp and onto the ground. "I want to become king right now so I can have all the fun I want!"</p><p>"Not so fast your highness," the woman laughed, grabbing ahold of the child's hand before he could dart out the room without any sign of catching him. "Did you listen to what I said about being king of Norta?"</p><p>The boy spun on his heel and clasped his hands together behind his back, rocking back and forth on his feet before nodding in response. "That the king has full control over everything that happens in Norta." He responded quickly.</p><p>"As long as the king is what?"</p><p>"As long as he is a good and just king to the people with his queen," the boy answered word for word, a blinding smile on his already perfect teeth. He listened much better than the woman had anticipated. </p><p>She ruffled up his perfectly styled hair before caressing the boy's cheek with her hand. "And who are our people?"</p><p>The boy stopped rocking on his feet at their question, scrunching his face into a tight expression of thought. After a moment he gave her a nervous smile, unsure of the answer he was trying to present to her. "The silvers, who are our top priority, and the reds, who are beneath us."</p><p>After a few moments of silence, a smile began to spread across the woman's face. It was bright and shining, full of pure adoration for the child that stood in front playing with his hands nervously. "Correct," She nodded, watching as a near identical smile grew on the boy's face. "You're such a smart young man, you will be the perfect king once you're old enough. The perfect and best king that Norta will have ever seen."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Sitting Pretty</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"Because Wooyoung is the prodigy," A Silk girl spoke, covering her mouth as she sneered at Daehwi behind her. "And you can't beat the prodigy."</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"I yield!" The injured boy underneath him shrieked, shielding his face with his arms as he desperately tried to protect himself. He wasn't able to run away as he was trapped in between Wooyoung and the array of metal pillars that were outlining his body, only missing the boy by just a few centimeters and blocking his means of escape. Had they been planted any closer to him, the injured boy would be impaled. With another frightened shriek, the boy yelled out, "I yield! I yield, I yield, please! Please, that's enough, just leave me to be!"</p><p>Wooyoung frowned at the pitiful sight before, crouching down on the ground with a small glint of interest in his eyes. One would think by the way he was pleading for his life to be spared that Wooyoung had almost killed him yet that wasn't the case. He was beaten up without a doubt, a bloody and purple bruise on the side of his face and countless little cuts that bled silver from his arms and shoulders but that was about it. It only went to show that the boy he stood over was physically weaker than most.</p><p>After a few moments of silence, he shrugged which earned him a desperate and hopefully look from the boy he stood over. "I accept your yield," Wooyoung responded, stepping away from the boy. With a heavy sigh of relief, the boy collapsed onto the ground, sprawled out like a starfish as he tried to regain his composure. It only took a minute or so for skin healers to immediately run towards him, scooping the injured boy off the ground and carrying him away to safety.</p><p>The injured boy wasn't always like that, weak and broken when faced with another foe. He was Daehwi, son of the silver house, House Lee, and was very highly spoken of. His ability to charm his way through life with sweet talk and relatable words was known notoriously through the capital of Norta with many silver people. Not only that but his family was very involved in the workings of the royal family, their men controlling the kingdom's navy. Daehwi's father was the admiral of it all and which gained Daehwi many connections that others wished they could grab a hold of. </p><p>To many, it seemed as though he had no weakness. Charming, approachable, and full of high ranking connections, the boy was practically set for life. Those who had tried to make any sort of weaknesses for the House Lee son could only make about one: that he was weak. Well, weak in terms of skill.</p><p>Daehwi would have the world in the palm of his hands if he was skilled in his silver abilities. House Lee silvers were nymphs, manipulators of anything liquid, and were usually very well versed in these abilities. But it seemed to be one of the only things that the boy lacked in. It made sense to him, if he was able to talk his way through their entire life why did he need to be skilled in the art of water manipulation? Unfortunately for him though, it did seem to matter how, especially up against silvers like Wooyoung.</p><p>Wooyoung was a well-known silver prodigy within the high houses and challenging him was like begging for humiliation. </p><p>"Lord Wooyoung," a shrill voice asked, catching the boy's attention and turning him away from Daehwi's defeated retreat. It was a woman, older than him by just a few years, that had come running to his side, staring at him intently as if she was trying to discreetly check for any wounds he may have taken. "Please, allow me to heal you before you return to the top of the arena."</p><p>Wooyoung wasn't as injured as House Lee's son, only his upper body being drenched with water that trickled down from his hair to the ground. The only wound he had truly suffered from his fight with Daehwi was the hot and angry gray markings around his neck from when the boy had tried to choke him out. Not a very serious injury, whether you can truly call it an injury or not, so the boy shrugged it off. </p><p>He glanced from the skin healer in front of him to the top of the gladiator-like arena, taking notice of the two people who were leaning over to watch with eager smiles and kind eyes. With a swift motion of his hands pushing his hair back and away from his eyes, he smiled his most notorious smile back at the healer. "No, I think I'm fine. Thanks though!"' </p><p>The woman's eyes widened with shock as the big began to skip away from her, a grin growing on his face as she called out to him. "But Lord... Lord Wooyoung, your neck—!"</p><p>"It's fine!" He finished off as he stood next to the instructor, who had been watching the fight between Daehwi and Wooyoung closely. "It's just a mark, it'll go away with a few hours of rest. Don't waste your abilities on me." The healer took one step towards him, a confused expression on her face as he waved his hands goodbye to her. Without another moment wasted, the instructor snapped his fingers together and the ground under Wooyoung's feet began to rumble before raising him up and out of the arena.</p><p>The healer didn't like Wooyoung very much for this, always brushing off their innate duty to heal their high ranking silvers when the battle is done and over with. But he seriously didn't need any help, it was just a red mark, not even a bruise! Daehwi could only wish that he had enough strength to knock him out without his silver abilities.</p><p>"Wooyoung!" A familiar voice called to him, chirpy and excited compared to the murmurs and looks he was getting from the rest of the silver children present in the room. He doesn't blame them for giving him looks, almost every day they are reminded that Wooyoung is a prodigy and they'd never amount to his nearly perfectly honed skills. It never bothered him though, he knew he was good and that's all that mattered to him. </p><p>"San!" He exclaimed back, stepping off the pillar he had rose on once he had reached the top of the arena. The boy came rushed towards him, nearly tripping on his way over to him as San shook him by the shoulders with uncontrollable excitement. "Did you see me? Was I good? Tell me I was good."</p><p>"Amazing as always," San grinned, unable to contain his joy as he glanced back towards the arena. "But did you really need to beat him down like that? Even I would be embarrassed if you did that to me."</p><p>By now, Daehwi was fully healed, all the injuries he had suffered wiped off his body like he was an empty canvas. The power of their skin healers was always such a sight to behold, watching them close and completely rid silvers of their wounds not even leaving a scar behind. With his head low from such an embarrassing defeat, he shoved the healers off of him and Daehwi began to rise out of the arena as well. </p><p>He shrugged, turning his face away from the boy and back to San. "Well... yeah? Did you see what the daughters of House Kim and sons of House Hwang were saying to him? They were gassing him up so much that they made him believe he could beat me in a match. Someone had to teach him to stay in his lane at one point."</p><p>"Lord Lee is going to be very mad at you, you know that right?" A feminine voice asked him, making both hits turn to her. Despite her serious tone, she couldn't help but smile at Wooyoung and San's joy. Who couldn't simply grin at the two boy's excitement, it was practically contagious. "Anyone who even dares try to beat down his son will face his watery wrath, or he'll try and send you straight to The Utopia."</p><p>"I'm basically untouchable though," He told her, dramatically tucking his hair behind his ear. San snorted at his actions, trying to contain a giggle knowing that Daehwi had reached the top of the arena now. "If Lord Lee wants to have a problem with me, have his son actually train in his abilities first instead of gossiping with the ladies!"</p><p>Despite Wooyoung very clearly antagonizing the House Lee son, there was a little truth to his words. To others, it did truly seem like the prodigy was untouchable. It made sense for him to be so given his rather easy going yet vain attitude.</p><p>Wooyoung's family was from the House Jung, one of the most well known silver high houses throughout all of Norta. Powerful people they were, they held much of what Reds could only dream of. Political power, great wealth, and much influence close to that of Norta's royal family. Not only that but they were a dangerous group of people with their magnetron abilities, manipulating and controlling metal to their will. Their abilities were rather hard to control and take complete advantage of, but Wooyoung wasn't known as a prodigy for nothing.</p><p>While Wooyoung was a very cocky and condescending boy due to his rank in the silver houses, his friends were not. Luckily for him, they balanced out his chaotic nature quite well actually.</p><p>San was one of two children in the House Choi, known for their public images and proximity to Norta's royal family. Despite Wooyoung being known as the prodigy of all the silver children of the high houses, San was probably one of the only people who could compare to him. He was a silent, whenever San wanted to he could stop Wooyoung in his tracks and leave him vulnerable. To put it into simpler terms, he could nullify his abilities, turn off his power to manipulate metal. They made a great duo regardless of San's innate ability to stop his supernatural powers and even greater friends.</p><p>The girl who accompanied them was Ryunjin, who was, like San, one of two children of a silver high house. She belonged to House Han, a house that has been shrouded in secrecy and darkness for generations. Though they were known for many of their members coming into the military ranks of Norta's army as valued spies and allies on both the battlefield and political light thanks to their interesting ability to bend light. One would think Wooyoung would stray away from someone who could be holding every secret known to man and vice versa, but Wooyoung was very endearing. </p><p>"Are you trying to get in trouble?" The girl grimaced, running over to cover his mouth before he could spout any more nonsense. He simply laughed at her reaction, nearly tumbling to the ground as the three struggled to keep his mouth shut. What a chaotic bunch of silver children they were, very different from the poised and collected silvers that were watching them with narrowed eyes.</p><p>Though the instructor cleared his throat, the sound echoed through the arena catching everyone's attention. Quickly the group of three moved off of each other, standing up with their backs straight and their eyes on their instructor. "If you are done playing games," He began, rising up and above the younger silvers for a height advantage. "Would anyone like to tell me why Daehwi lost to Wooyoung?"</p><p>"Because Wooyoung is the prodigy," A Silk girl spoke, covering her mouth as she sneered at Daehwi behind her. "And you can't beat the prodigy."</p><p>The group of silvers let out a low laugh, trying to conceal their chuckles for the House Lee son's sake. Though Wooyoung wasn't laughing, glancing towards Daehwi with conflicted and worried eyes. The boy didn't make eye contact with Wooyoung, or anyone in the room even. His eyes were solely on their instructor, a blazing sense of annoyance radiating off of him. </p><p>"Lady Kim," the instructor snapped, quickly silencing the room's small giggles and laughter. While the man didn't have the powers of a silent like San, his strict tone was enough to keep the high house children in line. Once the room had gone quiet once more he spoke again. "Any other answers?"</p><p>When none of the other silvers opened their mouths to answer, Ryunjin did. "Because Daehwi has not trained enough," She responded, raising her hand high in the air to gain everyone's attention. "There's no doubt that Wooyoung was and is a prodigy, but Daehwi might have been able to put up a fight had he trained himself in water manipulation more often. There is so much that he can do if he honed his own physical and mental strength to expand his abilities."</p><p>The instructor smirked at her words before stepping off of the platform he had made for himself. "Very good, Lady Han. Very informative, very good feedback for Lord Lee's son."</p><p>"So cynical," San whispered with a cheeky smile, only amplifying when Wooyoung excluded the same grin.</p><p>She rolled her eyes at the boy's teasing, ignoring their small oohs and awes as their instructor began to speak again. "I believe with enough practice, you will all have a chance to stand up against your fellow silvers..." </p><p>Wooyoung started to zone out the instructor after a few moments. His mind wandered off from the lecture they were being given, nudging Ryunjin to get her attention. The girl swatted his hand away from her as she tried to keep her focus on the older silver in front of them but Wooyoung was persistent. "Where's Yeosang?" He whispered to her, though frowning at the girl when she began to blatantly ignore him. "Don't pretend you didn't hear me, I'm standing right next to you."</p><p>"His Royal Highness," She mocked, not daring to make eye contact with him. Though she did gesture up to one of the balconies from the palace that were hanging over their heads with a small smile on her lips. "Is currently busy being rushed around the palace to prepare for the Queenstrial since it's two months from now. He doesn't have time to train with us right now... but I believe he may be at the glass terrace."</p><p>"Oh my, what a stalker you are Ryunjin," Wooyoung sneered.</p><p>"You asked," Ryunjin responded. "Won't that make you the stalker since you want to know exactly where he is and why he isn't here?"</p><p>"Lady Han and Lord Jung," the instructor snapped. Ryunjin dissipated into the light on instinct, a reaction she had picked up on since she was a child whenever she was startled. While the girl at his side turned invisible with her silver ability, Wooyoung stood up straight again, his head hanging low and not daring to even look at the older silver. That was the second time they had been called out for their childish behavior today. </p><p>San shook his head in embarrassment, not even able to cover up for the two's behavior in front of the instructor. When Ryunjin didn't appear once the instructor began to approach them, San shot where she once stood a skeptical look and she slowly began to phase back in front of everyone's eyes. He was silencing her powers and forcing her to stand and face the consequences of her actions instead of hiding from them.</p><p>"Too many," the man said, frowning down on the silver children. "This has occurred too many times, where the two of you play around in the background and do not listen to my teachings. I understand that you are getting older and eager for new sights, but this is not how you go about releasing that energy. Must I send you two back to learn the proper etiquette once more, to relearn the proper protocol to follow in front of your peers?"</p><p>Wooyoung and Ryunjin exchanged glances with each other for a moment before responding to the instructor. "No, Lord Moon..." they replied in unison. </p><p>"Must I have a word with your father, Lord Jung?" He asked Wooyoung. "Must I have a word with your brother, Lady Han?"</p><p>"No, Lord Moon." They responded, much faster and tenser than the other. There were few people that both of them feared to get in trouble with, but mention any sort of family member to either of the two and they'll straighten themselves out without another question.</p><p>"Then I suggest you do not let this behavior continue any further." The instructor let his words sink into their minds for a moment, making sure they caught the gist and threat that was thrown their way. "You all are dismissed."</p><p>It was completely silent as the silver children watched the instructor disappear through the doors of the arena, but when he was gone it was like there was a collective sigh of relief that echoed through the walls. While still holding on tightly to the manners they had been taught as a child, the group of silvers broke off into their own personal groups, chatting amongst each other eagerly to discuss the events that had taken place.</p><p>"I thought I was going to die!" Ryunjin exclaimed, placing her hands over her heart as she stumbled to her knees. "The moment he mentioned my brother I knew I was done for. Can you imagine the scolding I would have gotten from him when he comes home? I don't have the energy to try and fight that!"</p><p>"Your brother is spying on the opposing kingdoms," San mentioned with a skeptical look. "If Lord Moon even wanted to contact him, it would have taken months to even reach him in the depths of the Lakelands."</p><p>"That doesn't matter," She hissed. "Being yelled at by an older sibling is the worst, especially when they're holding a position of power that your parents would just die for you to take part in."</p><p>Wooyoung smiled at Ryunjin as he spoke, "San has an older sister Ryunjin."</p><p>"Shut up," the girl retaliated, her eyes burning with pure annoyance. The corners of his mouth refused to fall though, taking enjoyment in her irritation. There was never a day that goes by that Wooyoung didn't bother the girl, always finding some sort of way to push her buttons. </p><p>It wasn't a common thing for shadows to even come out of their closely knit group and expand their connections beyond themselves, so he was taking advantage of the fact that he had her by his side. There was just something about her reactions that made it so... endearing.</p><p>For a quick moment, he took a look up at the balconies again, catching the sight of someone watching younger silvers from above. Wooyoung squinted his eyes to see a little better before he turned to the two in front of him, putting his hands behind his back. "I'll see you later? I know the ladies of House Jeong wanted to go over the dances again to make sure we were prepared for the parties after the Queenstrial so..."</p><p>"Where are you going?" San questioned, a smug expression on his facing telling Wooyoung all he needed to know. "You know the Queenstrial isn't until two months from now, I don't think the ladies of House Jeong are going to force us to remember ballroom dances right now."</p><p>"Are you going to see Yeosang?" Ryunjin asked, holding her hands behind her back with an eager expression on her face. "If you see him, tell him I said hi and that he should come to training every so often instead of leaving us alone like that. It's not fun getting into trouble without him."</p><p>"Do you not like getting into trouble with me?" Wooyoung asked. "I'm just kidding, I'll make sure your message is safely delivered to his highness." With a sloppy salute to the two silvers, the boy spun on his heel and darted through the doors with a pep in his step. He completely avoided any of the other silvers who had tried to make conversation with, trying to comment and talk about his match with Lord Lee's son. Though, those conversations weren't very important right now.</p><p>As implied, Yeosang is the current crown prince of Norta. Wooyoung had known the boy since he was a child, having an immediate affinity for him the moment they had met each other. Perhaps it was because House Jung was near House Kang nearly all of the time but after meeting the two had become nearly inseparable. After that, he has strung both Ryunjin and San into the two's circle, intertwined them so much into each other's line that it was nearly impossible to pull them away from each other. </p><p>They were a close group of friends, troublemakers, but still very close. Maybe it was because he felt like he could be himself with them, not the arrogant child prodigy that most high house silvers saw him as. It was nice, not having to put up a face in front of them all.</p><p>But recently, they hadn't been seeing Yeosang around so much. He was constantly being pulled around by his parents to complete certain tasks and focus on certain objectives that that group barely had time to hang out with each other. The only time Wooyoung really took the chance to simply sit and be in the presence of the boy was when Yeosang had snuck off and away from the rest of his family, escaping out to the glass terrace to simulate that feeling of being able to breathe.</p><p>Slowly but surely, the glass terrace began to become their hangout spot. Just the two of them, not even San or Ryunjin were allowed to approach the terrace when they were occupying it. Honestly, Wooyoung didn't understand how the sentinels, or anyone for that matter, never found Yeosang when they were there. He would disappear in the middle of the day and almost always go running towards the glass terrace and Wooyoung would always be there with him. Either they had terrible hearing and sight or they were blatantly ignoring where the two were to give them a sense of peace.</p><p>Wooyoung skidded to a stop in front of the glass terrace doors, nearly falling to his knees to catch his breath. It was a lot more work than it seemed like to dodge out of the way of nearly all the silvers and red servants that were in the palace. So much energy he was forced to exert since he couldn't easily phase out of existence like a shadow or easily slid past everyone like a silk. After a moment he straightened back up, knocking on the glass terrace doors to alert the boy of his presence before opening the door up.</p><p>Yeosang stood on the edge of the balcony staring off past the city of Del Mundo and towards the further parts of Norta, to the places he couldn't even imagine in his mind. On his wrist, Yeosang anxiously played with the bracelet that hung off of it, both him and beads giving off the warm hum of a fire. He was dressed in red, black, and silver, unconsciously parading around in the official colors of House Kang. Though Wooyoung didn't know exactly if this was an unconscious fact or a subconscious decision on his family's behalf.</p><p>"Oh, your Royal Highness how I've been searching for you all over the palace!" He yelled, harshly shoving the door open to cause a ruckus. Yeosang immediately turned around in a panic, his eyes went wide with shock as he dropped his hands from the bracelet and looked as though he was going to make a run for it. </p><p>Though he relaxed upon noticing it was Wooyoung who had made such a grand entrance, crossing his arms as he leaned up against the railing of the glass terrace. "Your Majesty the king and queen have been searching for you since you broke away from the sentinels, how worried we've been for your well being!"</p><p>"You're not funny, stop it," Yeosang rolled his eyes, turning his head back towards the capital. Wooyoung came up right behind him, slinging his arm around the boy's neck and practically manhandling him away from the edge of the glass terrace.</p><p>"What'd you say about me not being funny?" He questioned the boy, ruffling up his perfectly styled and purposely making sure he forced his shaggy hair into his eyes. Yeosang had been growing his hair out for a few months now and it looked a little shaggy, he wondered how much he had to fight with his mother and father about finally trimming it down. </p><p>He fought with Yeosang to stay hooked onto the boy's neck before the prince finally shoved him off, he gave him a half smile. "So are you going to talk about how you got in trouble earlier or what?"</p><p>"You saw that?" Wooyoung inhaled, glancing over towards where the now empty arena stood. Sure enough, it did give someone a good view of what was going on below, but he didn't think Yeosang had been hanging around for that long. When he saw the smirk began to creep across the prince's mouth he let out a groan of annoyance. "Come on, Lord Moon always has a problem to pick with me! He only snaps at my behavior because he can't find any flaws in my current skill set."</p><p>"Okay Mr. Prodigy," Yeosang shrugged, clearly not taking him seriously.</p><p>"I'm being serious," Wooyoung complained, his face twisting with frustration at Yeosang's patronizing smile. "I may be a problem child most of the time, but you think he'd let me off of the hook because I'm just... better than anyone else."</p><p>"You have zero manners almost one hundred percent of the time, Wooyoung," Yeosang reminded him. "The only time you listen to people is if the important members of the high houses are in the room or you specifically want something from others. Honestly, you might really need to review etiquette lessons again."</p><p>The boy huffed in response to Yeosang's words, leaning up against the glass terrace railing and sliding to the ground. He couldn't find fault in his words there, the prince was completely right. If he had to be honest, when Wooyoung was younger wasn't paying attention to the lessons being presented to him. He found them boring and often repetitive to the point where he had begun to tune out everything that was being spoken to him. Clearly, he had gotten down the basics but anything past that had gone in one ear and out the other.</p><p>"Why aren't you saying anything about Ryunjin?" He questioned after a moment, narrowing his eyes at the prince. "She got in trouble with me too, you would have known that if you were watching us from up here."</p><p>"Because Ryunjin has manners and only truly gets in trouble when you're involved," Yeosang responded matter of factly, not even sparing him a glance.</p><p>The corner of Wooyoung's mouth twitched at the boy's reaction, unsatisfied with his answer. Though he clapped his hands together and stood up, mischievous drawn right on his forehead as he spoke. "Oh! Speaking of Ryunjin, she told me to tell you hello and that she misses you."</p><p>"She misses me?" Yeosang answered immediately, his voice cracking in the middle of his words. He cleared his throat to try and cover up his mistake before standing up straight and addressing the House Jung son. "I mean... she did?"</p><p>Something about teasing Yeosang's adoration for the House Han girl always seemed to make Wooyoong's day better. Especially since the prince couldn't exactly hide it very well if he tried. He could cough and clear his throat as much as he wanted to, but there was no suppressing the short burst of heat waves that would practically radiate off of him when she came around. "She did," Wooyoung confirmed," she said she missed it when you would cause trouble with us!"</p><p>"Quit playing with me," Yeosang warned, scowling at Wooyoung for even daring to get his hopes up. </p><p>"What do you mean quit playing with you? She did! That means you were just as much of a problem as I was!"</p><p>"I am not a problem child, Wooyoung. The only one who ever caused problems was you."</p><p>"Excuse me, your highness?" A timid voice questioned, catching the attention of both of the boys. They turned around quickly in a panic, Yeosang's hands in a stiff snapping motion to call upon his silver abilities if he needed to. Wooyoung simply stood back and eyed down the door to the glass terrace with suspicion, under sure of who could have interrupted them while the prince was on the run. </p><p>Though both let out a relieved sigh when they realized it was a red servant, their status in the palace was on full display thanks to the identification patch stamped on their red clothing. "Your highness, I'm so sorry to interrupt, but I have been sent by our Majesties, the king and queen. Queen Kang has specifically asked me to retrieve you as soon as possible and to come to—" They tried to explain, approaching the two high house silvers with hasty steps. </p><p>Though they quickly went silent when they saw how both the boys reacted, stepping away from the red servant as if they had the plague. "Are you new here?" Yeosang questioned them, taking note of their actions and words very carefully. </p><p>They pause for a moment before nodding their head. "Yes, your highness. I was recruited three months back for House Kim, but was transferred to Del Mundo then the palace only—"</p><p>"I can tell," the silver prince's face twisted as he answered them. "You talk too much." The red servant hung their head low in embarrassment, not daring to speak another word without the silver boys asking them to. An uncomfortable silence settled between the two as Yeosang gave the red servant a small scowl, struggling to hide his emotions and nearly handing them out to the servant on a silver platter. </p><p>Wooyoung rolled his eyes as he nudged Yeosang, snapping him out of his moment of irritation. "You'll kill them if you keep staring at them like that, did you have to say that out loud?"</p><p>"But am I wrong?" He asked his silver friend, his original scowl dropping into a friendly pout. </p><p>"Oh, I'm sorry your Royal Highness, I didn't mean to step on your feet there." Wooyoung teased, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly as he gestured towards the red servant that stood in front of them. "No one comes to the glass terrace while you're here without reason, you know that."</p><p>Yeosang looked between the red servant and Wooyoung, an annoyed expression donning his face as he made his decision. "Speak," He told the red servant, turning to face them completely, "Speak, but please make it short."</p><p>"General Kim," They spat out, trying to speak as quickly as they could with the requirement the silver prince gave them. "General Kim and Lord Lee have returned to the palace to speak with high house representatives and the royal family on urgent matters. Queen Kang has sent for your presence during this meeting, the king would also like your presence as well."</p><p>Yeosang's shoulders slumped at the servant's words, a grimace forming on his face. Wooyoung didn't notice until he saw how sapped of his energy he seemed but Yeosang seemed tired. He wasn't as active as he used to be, or at least it didn't seem like he was enjoying himself as much as he used to. The queen and king were pulling the silver prince all around the palace, shoving the worries of the Queenstrial and his position as next in line for king on him all at once. Wooyoung joked about it a lot, but was Yeosang ever actually getting a moment of rest?</p><p>"You don't have to go you know," Wooyoung reminded him. "San, Ryunjin, and I can hide you. She can make you disappear with her and San can cut off any of the sentinels' abilities with just the snap of his fingers. We can at least get you an hour or more of time to yourself."</p><p>Though the silver prince shrugged him off, plastering a fake smile on lips as he responded. "No, I should go. More experience within the meetings with the high houses will make me a better king after all. You should start attending them soon as well. You are Lord Jung's successor, after all, this will be a you problem one day as well."</p><p>"That day is not today," Wooyoung replied, brushing off his future responsibilities for future him to worry about. He had joined a meeting with the high houses once before when he was just a few years younger and he hated it. Listening to all of the high house representatives talk about politics and war, battle plans and kingdoms, money and reds, it wasn't anything that Wooyoung wanted to be apart of. He'd avoid ever even approaching the room again for as long as he could.</p><p>Yeosang rolled his eyes at his quick response, a small laugh naturally falling out of his mouth as Wooyoung spoke up again. "Go to your silly meeting with the big boys, I hope you get so bored out of your mind that a whisper has to keep you awake. Oh! Make sure you mention how I literally dominated Lord Lee's son in the arena today as well."</p><p>"Are you too scared to tell him yourself?" Yeosang narrowed his eyes at him. "Afraid Lord Lee might drown you?"</p><p>"Those are fighting words, your Royal Highness." the silver boy threatened, watching the smile on the prince's face grow even wider than it was before. "Now go, before your mother whispers into your head and makes you."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Have A Friend Like Me</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"Are you crazy?" He responded, nearly shoving Wooyoung off of him in disbelief. "Newbloods? Really? There's no possible way that there are newbloods in Moon River, you remember what happened to all of them!"</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"What are you doing?" Yeosang questioned, leaning up against the door frame of his room. It was the middle of the night now, the full moon hanging high up above the city of Del Mundo and it's supposedly sleeping residents. </p><p>Wooyoung stood in front of him with a sort of black cloak-like coat hanging over his shoulders, rocking back and forth on the heels of his shoes as he eagerly stared back at the drowsy silver prince.</p><p>The boy had woken up the boy from his comfortable slumber, knocking on the door much more aggressively than he had originally intended to. Though his forceful demands for the prince to open the door were responded to either way, so he didn't feel too bad about it.</p><p>Yeosang narrowed his eyes at him, quickly looking over his clothing and demeanor as the gears in his head began to turn in his head. After a few moments of silence, the silver prince spoke up again, "So, where are you going this time?"</p><p>"Moon River Valley," Wooyoung grinned, barely able to keep his excitement held within his body. The silver boy dug deep into his pockets, pulling out a small map he had stolen away from the palace's athenaeum and held it up to the small light that illuminated the hallway. </p><p>It was a much shorter scale version of Norta, or at least of Del Mundo and its surrounding inhabitants and locations. "I overheard someone from House Lee talking to my father right? They mentioned how they noticed something strange going on over there and knowing that they'll probably take it up with your parents, the whole thing will probably be pushed under the rug."</p><p>"So you want to go over there tonight and find out what it is for yourself?" The silver prince asked him, rolling his eyes when Wooyoung eagerly nodded his head in response. "First of all, it's Moon River Valley. Nothing is over there except for a bunch of reds and a dying river. Second of all, doesn't it take hours to reach that place on foot? You'll never make it back before the sun rises."</p><p>"Yeosang, are you stupid?" Wooyoung complained, shoving the map right back into his pocket. "If it was brought to my father, you know, one of the most powerful silvers of all the high houses beside House Kang, it's important? Whatever goes through that man will go to the king. And whatever goes to the king never sees the light of day."</p><p>The boy nodded his head in agreement, not finding any reason to refute his statement. "Why do you specifically want to know about it then? If you ask me this is kinda out of the blue."</p><p>Wooyoung glanced up from where he was with Yeosang, looking both ways down the halls for any sentinels that might be patrolling the palace at this hour. After confirmation that no one was coming their way, he leaned over to whisper in the silver prince's ear, "what if it's newbloods?"</p><p>"Are you crazy?" He responded, nearly shoving Wooyoung off of him in disbelief. "Newbloods? Really? There's no possible way that there are newbloods in Moon River, you remember what happened to all of them!"</p><p>The boy hushed the silver prince, needing him to keep his voice down so that he wouldn't be caught running around the palace at this hour. After a moment his shoulders slumped as he pressed his back up against the wall in frustration. "Yeah I remember, but you can't look at me and tell me it's true can you?"</p><p>A century or two ago, Wooyoung couldn't ever remember, the past king of Norta passed an act that had nearly changed the lives of millions of people that lived within its borders. He was believed to be a king who liked to look back on the history of Norta in all its faults and fall its merits and do what he believed was the correct way to handle things. The History Maker, he was called after passing a rather important act called The Purification Act. </p><p>See, while the king was known for his constant pondering of the past, he was also known for his large disdain for newbloods. His wife had eloped with one of these newbloods after bearing his children, and in a rage fueled fit he passed The Purification Act. He had mobilized Norta's army and commanded them to wrangle up every single newbloods within the borders of Norta and dump all of them into The Utopia. </p><p>There, he committed mass genocide on their kind and wiped the newblood population completely off the face of Norta. </p><p>This act was still in place today, even, even though newbloods were eradicated off of the face of Norta. If any newblood from any other kingdom, whether it was the Lakelands or not, they would be killed on the spot once discovered. </p><p>Yet it wouldn't be long till the Lakelands adopted this act for their own means, seeing as several rebellions have begun to rise in that country. So it's not an exaggeration to say that most silver and red children within Norta believed that newbloods didn't even exist anymore since not a single one of the new generation children had ever seen a newblood in their life.  </p><p>"What other way is it but true?" Yeosang questioned him. "The newblood population is declining rapidly fast, they're been on the verge of extinction since the Lakelands began to participate in that madness. If you're going to the Moon River Valley to find one, you'll be disappointed by the results."</p><p>"I can still try though, don't you think?" Wooyoung replied, his eyes practically begging Yeosang to give him a satisfactory answer.</p><p>"No." The silver prince told him, his voice as cold as ice as he grabbed a hold of the door handle. "Now go to sleep Wooyoung before you send yourself on a wild goose chase."</p><p>In a panic he shoved his foot in between the door frame and the door itself, having Yeosang practically slam it into his foot without knowing. Wooyoung wheezed at the pain, his life flashing before his eyes as he crumbled to the ground and coddled his foot. He couldn't scream, not when the sentinels were patrolling the palace halls. He'd give his position away in under a second if he screamed the way he wanted to. So all the silver boy did was bite his lip and nearly sob at the throbbing, aching pain.</p><p>"Wooyoung, are you out of your mind?" The silver prince questioned, dropping to his knees and staring at Wooyoung with a worried expression on his face. "Why the hell would you do that?"</p><p>"Because I forgot to tell you," Wooyoung breathed, sucking in air as he tried to calm himself down and soothe the pain. "That Ryunjin was going to come along with me to Moon River Valley..."</p><p>"She is?" He quickly responded, standing up again to dust himself off. The silver prince completely ignored Wooyoung rocking on the ground as he peered down the hallway, trying to spot the House Han daughter in the dimly lit lights. "Ryunjin is going with you?"</p><p>"Yes," The silver boy lied, standing up once more after he recovered from his momentary shock and pain. In reality, he was trying to get Yeosang to come with him for a sense of back up and to get him away from all the royal mess he had been forced to involve himself in, but he didn't need to know that.</p><p>All Wooyoung knew is that if it involved the shadow girl, the silver prince was immediately on board with anything thrown his way. "Ryunjin is coming with me so she can sneak me out of the palace."</p><p>"Oh..." He nodded, playing with a strand of his shaggy hair and rocking back and forth on his heels in a very childish manner. "Well, I mean... I'm not saying I wouldn't go to Moon River Valley... but I'd be in really big trouble if the sun rises and I'm not here. You know my parents will declare a state of emergency if I'm not within the palace walls when they're not watching."</p><p>Wooyoung scoffed at his quick change in demeanor, knowing that once Yeosang found out that the House Han daughter wasn't really joining them he'd flip a switch on him immediately. "You're pathetic."</p><p>"Shut up," Yeosang cursed, punching the boy's shoulder in frustration. "Anyways this still doesn't solve your transportation problem, you know that right?"</p><p>"Well, I was kinda hoping we'd stowaway in some random guy's cargo? I know there are a few people who were going to travel into Moon River Valley tonight so I thought—"</p><p>"Who is going to Moon River Valley?" Yeosang asked, his voice suddenly strained with seriousness. When Wooyoung only shrugged in response to his question, the boy sighed. "Wooyoung, no one just goes into Moon River Valley without a reason? The fact that you overheard someone talking about it makes that even more worrisome."</p><p>"Maybe it's a newbloods trying to run away to the red villages without being caught?" He fantasized, imagining all the scenarios that could happen if the two of them encouraged some of the last newbloods in the world. Though when Yeosang didn't seem to share the same excitement, Wooyoung groaned in frustration. </p><p>"Come on Yeosang, stop worrying so much!" Wooyoung complained, "Just treat this as... as a vacation to a new place you've never been before. Lots of mysteries, lots of excitement, lots of new experiences! Plus... no king and queen to drag you around the palace, don't you think?"</p><p>The silver prince staring at Wooyoung for a moment, his conflicted feelings swirling through his eyes before he finally let out a sigh. "Wait here." The silver boy nodded his head in response, finally allowing Yeosang to turn and walk back into the room without stopping him. He stayed silent for a moment before silently cheering to himself and congratulating himself on getting the prince to agree to come along.</p><p>Step one, have Yeosang join him on his nighttime adventure, was complete. Now it was time to move into step two, moving the prince out of the palace without the sentinels catching them. </p><p>It was going to be arguably the hardest part of his plan to run around Moon River Valley aside from transporting them back to the palace before the sun rose and someone noticed the two of them were gone. Though Wooyoung was up for the challenge, anything was worth it if it meant that Yeosang would get a break from his princely duties to have fun. That's what being a friend was for, after all, forcing your friends to have fun even when they weren't supposed to.</p><p>"Yes, who is the best friend in the whole wide world?" Wooyoung sang to himself, patting himself on the back for his accomplishments. "Me, Jung Wooyoung, is the best friend in the whole wide— Ryunjin!" He screamed, quickly covering his mouth as soon as the words flew out his mouth.</p><p>The House Han girl was slowly phasing into existence in the dim light, giving Wooyoung a knowing stare as she played with the hem of her nightgown nonchalantly. "What have you done this time?"</p><p>"Just blew my cover, that's what I've done." He hissed, his brain beginning to turn its gears in his panicked state. There was no way the sentinels didn't hear Wooyoung nearly scream bloody murder down the hall, so it was a matter of time before they came running towards the silver prince's direction to check on him. Despite the boy's sense of urgency in the situation, Ryunjin didn't seem to budge from where she stood. </p><p>In fact, her eyes were narrowed and staring straight at Wooyoung's attire. She took note of the heavy-duty boots that were tied on his feet, the black cloak that covered a majority of his torso to at least his knees, and the small paper map that was sticking out like a sore thumb underneath the fabric of his cloak. Ryunjin frowned as she grabbed a hold of his ear, her grip tight around it as her eyes scanned the array of metal earrings that dotted it. "Where the hell are you going? In the middle of the night even?"</p><p>"Nowhere if the sentinels catch me!" He answered in a harsh tone, both of them turning down the hall once the rumbling of hasty footsteps coming towards them. Oh, this was a terrible situation he found himself in. </p><p>In the heat of the moment, Ryunjin held out her hand to him and demanded, "Hold my hand." Wooyoung stared at the girl dumbfounded as she rolled his eyes at his reaction. "Hold my hand so that I can make us both disappear with my abilities so you don't get caught, you idiot. I can't do it without touching the other person I want to hide, I haven't trained that much."</p><p>"I can't," Wooyoung rejected immediately. "Yeosang, they'll search Yeosang's room to make sure he hasn't been injured and if they see him preparing to leave they'll heighten the security around his room. I can't just let him face the brute of the trouble like that, who knows what punishment his parents will give him."</p><p>"You were planning to take him with you?!" Ryunjin whispered in a moment of disbelief, unable to understand Wooyoung's decision. </p><p>Though speaking of the devil, there Yeosang was opening the door with a confused expression as he heard the rumbling before embarrassment flooded his eyes at the sight of Ryunjin. "Oh... I didn't expect you to be here so soon! And why are you dressed that way...?"</p><p>"No time to talk," Wooyoung quickly interjected, grabbing the House Han daughter by the sleeve of her nightgown. "Sentinels are coming, let us hide in your room? Pretend like you didn't even hear anything when they come to check on you."</p><p>"What did you do?" </p><p>"No time to talk!" He stressed again. Without any more questions, he dragged Ryunjin side of Yeosang's room, nearly shoving the silver prince out of the way so the two could escape. "Just do what I say and we'll hide, got it? Got it."</p><p>"My closet is big enough four a group of five," He told them, pointing to the double doors that were opposite of his bed. "Hide in there until the sentinels come and leave."</p><p>"Why are you forcing me to hide?" Ryunjin complained. "I'm the one who can bend light to their will, I don't really need to be hiding like Wooyoung."</p><p>"Ryunjin," Wooyoung breathed, "Shut up and get into the closet, please. We don't know if the sentinels have a silent among their ranks or not."</p><p>"Okay fine, I'm going," She grumbled, his physical slowly fading out of existence as she bent light to her will. Despite having used her silent abilities, both Yeosang and Wooyoung saw the boy's closet door unlock and open up before closing behind nothingness. At least she listened to them when they needed her to.</p><p>The two boys immediately ran from each other when they heard knocking on the door, one of the sentinels yelling from the other side, "Prince Yeosang! Prince Yeosang, are you in there?" The silver prince jumped into his bed, bundling himself within the covers and ruffling up the hair he had tied into a messy ponytail to recreate the illusion that he was still resting. </p><p>Wooyoung tugged hard on the closet door, opening it up to reveal an off guard Ryunjin who has just phased back into visibility again. He didn't waste any time to enter the large room though as he closed the door behind him and moved as far back from the door as possible.</p><p>"So are you gonna explain where you're going now?" Ryunjin asked him, her voice as she tried to keep quiet between the two of them. Their eyes were glued to the closet door in case one of the sentinels decided to search Yeosang's room despite his orders, but the House Han daughter kept talking anyway. "I didn't hear much of your conversation with Yeosang, in fact, I just barely caught the end of it, but judging by your attire you're going somewhere."</p><p>Wooyoung sighed in reply, knowing he'll have to explain himself especially to Ryunjin since she was a part of his alibi to make Yeosang tag along. Wordlessly he dug in his pockets and pulled out the map of Del Mundo, Norta, and handed it to her. "Moon River Valley," He answered, feeling the anxiety within Ryunjin festering and radiating off of her. "I heard some interesting news from my father and decided I wanted to go check it out myself and thought I'd bring Yeosang along with me."</p><p>"I would be okay with this if it was any other place," Ryunjin told him. "But Moon River Valley? Wooyoung that place is filled to the brim with reds! What makes you think Yeosang is going to want to go there? Of all the places in Norta?"</p><p>Wooyoung grimaced before giving the girl a small desperate smile, "Because I said you were going with me too...?"</p><p>The girl sat there in disbelief, almost laughing at the circumstances the silver boy had put them in. "Are you... an idiot? Does it look like I'm ready to go anywhere?" She asked him gesturing to the nightgown she had on at the moment. "Yeosang is going to be so mad at you when he realizes you lied to him, you know that right?"</p><p>"I know! But I had no other options!" He hissed back. "You know Yeosang plays favorites, if you do anything he'll follow right behind you with no questions asked. And I had to get him out of the palace somehow, he looked so tired last time I saw him. I couldn't just stand around and let his parents suck all of the fun out of him."</p><p>"You know that they're only busying him so much because of—"</p><p>"Because of the Queenstrial, I know!" The boy rolled his eyes at Ryunjin's excuse, the same excuse everyone had been throwing at him for the past month or so. "But that's not till two months from now. So until that day comes, I'm going to make sure he continues to live as a kid when I get the chance, okay?"</p><p>Ryunjin didn't say another word, her mouth gaping open as if she wanted to refute his words but was ultimately unable to. "Wooyoung—"</p><p>"Coast is clear!" Yeosang yelled as the door to the closet opened, making both of the silver children scream and Ryunjin going invisible at the shock. "The sentinels just left, but they're probably going to be close by since they were skeptical of my excuse. I don't know if we'll be able to make it out of the room without being caught."</p><p>"We'll go out of the window then!" Wooyoung declared, recovering from his initial shock. Both Ryunjin and Yeosang gave him a skeptical and untrustworthy stare as he scurried out of the closet, running towards the closet window in the room and lifting the latches that kept it closed. With a small tug, the chilly air from the outdoors flooded the inside of the room like a tidal wave, making all three of them shiver from the cold front.</p><p>"You're serious?" Yeosang asked, taken back by complete disbelief.</p><p>"When is he not?" Ryunjin answered for him, watching Wooyoung in pure amusement as he stuck his head out of that window. They weren't too high up above the ground, but not low enough for the two boys to simply jump out and land perfectly fine. Yeosang's room was at least four to five stories up and the glass terrace was only three floors above them, so the fall would damage them no matter what. </p><p>A puzzled expression donned his face as he took a few steps back away from the window, his mind running with potential solutions to the problems they were faced with. "Anyways... are we going to talk about the fact you lied to me?" Yeosang asked, crossing his arms as he looked from Wooyoung to Ryunjin. "Using people in order to pull me into your shenanigans isn't cool, one day the consequences are going to catch up to you."</p><p>"What consequences?" Ryunjin questioned the silver prince, a genuine hint of curiosity glinting in her eyes. "When is the last time you've really seen Wooyoung get in trouble with anyone? And I mean serious trouble, not Lord Moon picking at him for being a distraction during training."</p><p>Yeosang didn't respond and the House Han daughter smiled at him. "Never." The silver prince answered her. Wooyoung wasn't listening to them, his mind finally latching onto an idea that had sprung into his mind. "I've never seen him get in any serious trouble... but that doesn't mean it won't happen!" He ran his fingers across the many earrings that swiftly hung from his ears, the metal bending around the tip of his nails like liquid and slowly forming into a solid object in his hands. </p><p>"Yeosang, you gotta be realistic here," Ryunjin told him as Wooyoung got into position. His hands gripped tightly onto the object that had formed into a small, yet metallic pole, a grin stretching across his lips as he counted to himself. "Wooyoung has the power of a prodigy and a silver elite's son. Whatever real trouble he gets into will be covered up without a single trace left behind."</p><p>"One!" The silver boy yelled, running towards the window with as much speed as he could muster. Yeosang and Ryunjin didn't even have a chance to react when he suddenly leaped off of the ground, jumping cleanly past the sill and into the outdoor. He overestimated his jump and went too far past the wall of the palace than he originally hoped. Either way though, he was falling. He was falling ten stories down to the ground.</p><p>"Wooyoung!" Neither of the silver children could save him, their abilities not pertaining to such scenarios like a telky or windweaver. Despite the horrifying circumstances, however, the boy smirked. He smiled even, getting wider and wider until his face was practically beaming with excitement. He steadied himself in the air as he hurled the object towards the white palace walls, the amount of force and strength he had put into the throw smashing the metal object straight into it. </p><p>Like a spider's silk, it extended from where it struck the wall, thinning and straining itself out as it came to the beck and call of his hands. Once he grabbed a hold of the liquid-like metal it completely solidified itself within his palms, shaking him like a leaf in the wind but still catching him from his fall. Wooyoung's smile never faltered, it was simply big and bold while his blood rushed with adrenaline and excitement. If his aim was only a little bit off, if he didn't throw the object hard around, he would have died. Keyword if. </p><p>He looked back up towards the prince's window, waving towards Ryunjin and Yeosang who were staring at him in bewilderment for the actions he made. "Give me like... 10 minutes!" He told them, yelling as quietly as he could to alert them of his plan. The boy steadied himself on the small object he had created, his eyes glued to the ground he almost collided with. "I'll be back with a way to get Yeosang, if I'm not back by then I've been caught and Lord Moon is going to have a field day with me."</p>
<hr/><p>"This was a stupid idea..." Yeosang mumbled, tying his hair back into a ponytail after picking bits of dirt and dust out of his hair. The two had successfully left the palace with the help of Ryunjin, escaping through the window after Wooyoung's wild stunt he had pulled minutes before then. He had made sure that the way out of the window and down the white palace walls wasn't as risky for Yeosang as it was when he jumped out the window and Ryunjin had used her silver abilities to shroud them in darkness, allowing them to move like shadows to where they needed to go.</p><p>It was a risky move, scaling down the wall with a singular sturdy rope and House Han daughter clinging to the other end of it to keep them afloat and steady all while concentrating on her ability to keep them covered in the shadows. Despite the hard endeavor, the two silver boys did make a safe landing into the ground. </p><p>Running through Del Mundo wasn't very hard for them either, mainly because Wooyoung was leading the silver prince. He's snuck around the capital city plenty of times which was enough to let him know what sentinels were placed where. Whether they were swifts, silks, or strongarms, he knew how to evade the lower-tiered guards. It was far too easy for him to find their suspecting victim who would be traveling into Moon River Valley and stowaway on it. </p><p>"You say that like you aren't coming along with me," Wooyoung teased, dusting himself off and covering his head with the hood of his cloak. The hood covered a good portion of his face, casting a shadow over all of his most notable features except for his mouth. He couldn't risk the possibility of someone recognizing him, nor could Yeosang. "You came along with me and Ryunjin isn't even tagging along! You can't say you didn't come because of curiosity now."</p><p>"I watched you jump out a window," The silver prince noted, lifting the hood of his cloak so that he could be just as hidden as Wooyoung. Well, he would be just as hidden if it wasn't for the colors he adorned. Red, black, and silver, unknowing carrying the House Kang colors wherever he went. </p><p>Luckily the moon was still high in the sky and its light wasn't as bright and overbearing as the sun. The red and black were practically merging into one color due to the lack of light so Wooyoung only hoped that it was enough to keep the recognition at bay. "I'm obligated to follow after you now since you nearly died for this cause."</p><p>"Good to know," he grinned, skipping on his feet as the two approached the red village they had run to. </p><p>The village wasn't anything compared to the grand city of Del Mundo and the large palace placed within the city walls if Wooyoung had to be honest. While the palace wasn't bursting with natural colors and the warm wind that the river village adorned, there was a sense of desperation flying through the air. A desperation that Wooyoung hadn't ever felt with his silver friends and family in Del Mundo.</p><p>It wasn't very busy, seeing as the two had come while the moon was still in the sky and the village was covered in darkness, but I didn't shake the strange feeling that was building up behind Wooyoung's back. Most of the red residents within the village were in their homes for the night, but there were a few stragglers along the way as the two silver boys walked along the path. </p><p>They stared like hunted animals at the two strangers who were patrolling streets, not even daring to approach them even if they wanted.</p><p>"Do you think they can tell?" Yeosang whispered, sticking close beside Wooyoung with an evident nervous tone to his voice. The silver boy let his words linger in his mind for a moment before smiling. </p><p>"We're two complete strangers who walked into town," He reassured him, slinging his arm around the boy's neck and nearly dragging him to the ground. "I'd be a little skeptical of someone we didn't know walked into the palace as well, so don't even worry about it. Now let's see this famous river shall we?"</p><p>The silver prince didn't even get a chance to answer him when Wooyoung took off running to the edge of the red village. He laughed as Yeosang tried to follow after him, not even caring for the hood that had fallen to his shoulders as he ran in the wind. He was too busy enjoying watching the silver prince eat his dust as the athletic friend between the two. Though after a few minutes of running he skidded to a stop, nearly sending himself straight off the edge of a cliff. </p><p>He let out a deep breath of relief as he took a few steps back, his eyes widening into full moons as he looked before him. "The Moon River..." Wooyoung mumbled as Yeosang finally caught up with him. "It's completely dead."</p><p>The large river that had once been one of Norta's most beautiful sights to see, was completely gone. The only thing it had left behind was a deep channel that was once home to its watery sight with cracking in the dull patchy ground as if an earthquake had shaken the valley to its core. The river was so deep that it left a little cliff from where the land would have met its shore, creating more of a canyon than a valley now. </p><p>"I guess we have to come up with an entirely new name for this place right?" Yeosang quipped, noticing Wooyoung's dismay at the dead river. When the boy didn't respond though he hung his head low and responded, "Sorry, I guess now isn't time for jokes."</p><p>"When I was a child, my family would travel down this river all of the time during the spring," He explained, slumming to the ground and letting his feet hang over the cliff's edge. "We'd ride a boat with Lord Bang's family and watch the river sparkle even when the river wasn't as full as it used to be. Seeing it gone just..."</p><p>Yeosang didn't try to say anything else, simply patting the boy's back for his loss of a childhood memory. There was nothing he could say to make him feel better.</p><p>"So, I reckon you two must be new?" An unfamiliar voice spoke to them, taking both of them by surprise as they turned around. It was an elderly woman, her face wrinkled with age but her eyes sparkling with a sense of curiosity and youth. When the boys didn't respond she chuckled and waved them off. "I've never seen you in this area before, that's why I asked."</p><p>Wooyoung quickly lifted the hood of his cloak over his head as he stood up, trying to obstruct her view of him as best as he could. Not like it would help though since she had already caught a glimpse of him. "We are," Yeosang answered, fumbling with his hands as he tried to come up with a cohesive lie. "We're from... the Lakelands, refugees if that's what you'd prefer to call us."</p><p>The woman looked between the two of them, her expression unreadable as she determined the weight of the prince's lie in her head. Despite this though, she smiled at them. "Ah... I see! Then welcome to Twilight as we prefer to call it," She told them, mimicking Yeosang's statement. "We hope you can call this place home."</p><p>"If you don't mind me asking," Wooyoung piped up, turning back towards the dead river. "What happened here...?"</p><p>She peered from behind them towards the river, a pitiful smile growing on her face as she spoke. "As Lakelanders I see you'd want to be close to the water right? Unfortunately, a month ago our glorious river was completely sapped of its life overnight. We don't exactly know why it happened so soon but we've been expecting this to happen for a while now."</p><p>"Has anything strange happened lately?" Yeosang asked, probably thinking that the death of the river and strange information Lord Jung had received were connected.</p><p>"Not many weird things happen here," The woman shrugged, staring off up the channel where many other red villages lay. "We live in a red and silver world, there's only so much you can call weird compared to what we find normal." </p><p>"Anything at all?" Wooyoung insisted. </p><p>She thought for a moment, considering both boys' words before speaking again. "Well... I can't say there hasn't been this one odd occurrence recently." The woman tested, chuckling to herself when she saw how intrigued and desperate for answers they were.</p><p>"People have been traveling up the river towards its source these past few weeks, and they say that once you get to it you'll start to see strange things," She told them, "Like visions of people in the corner of your eye, but never truly there. Stay up there for far longer than you should and you'll pass out and somehow end up right back where you came from."</p><p>"A swift? A cloner, maybe?" Yeosang suggested.</p><p>"There's no way," Wooyoung argued back, just as confused as the silver prince was. "Their abilities don't match up to her description, it can't be a silver from that background."</p><p>"Then who?" Yeosang asked him, but neither of them spoke. They were puzzled, stumped by a mysterious situation they didn't have a single inkling about. </p><p>"If you're that curious," the woman began, giving the two boys a knowing look. "I would suggest that you boys should try and climb to the river source when you have the time since experiencing the phenomenon yourself might give you clues as to what's going on... but even the people of Twilight aren't giving it another chance. It's too dangerous for reds to try and search the river source."</p><p>When Wooyoung didn't respond, Yeosang gave him a hard stare, practically reading his mind of all the thoughts that were racing through his head. </p><p>But he stepped back in slight shock when the silver boy smiled at the woman and spoke, "We're refugees, we don't have much to offer or give with this mystery. We need to focus on getting ourselves settled in this new land first... but one day, maybe we'll go. One day."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Ballroom Dancing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"The Queenstrial will finally commence in only just a few weeks from now. And what comes after the Queenstrial?"</p><p>An animosi boy's hand immediately shot up as he blurted, "Parties!"</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Wooyoung and Yeosang got caught when returning to the palace. They were already scrambling across the hallways during the sunrise, trying to rush the silver prince back to his room before anyone could catch them. Unfortunately, they had made too much noise marching through the corridors and alerted the sentinels, coming face to face with a frustrated yet exhausted king and overbearingly worried queen. </p><p>The Norta queen had immediately scooped out the prince in her arms, pressing him close to her heart and smoothing out his unruly hair as if she was trying to calm down any fear that had grown in his heart. Wooyoung simply rocked back and forth on her heels with his hands behind his back, his eyes catching the angry sight of the Norta king staring straight at him. He was practically burning holes into the silver boy's forehead and something within Wooyoung knew that he might have made the wrong move this time. </p><p>There was only so much Wooyoung could avoid and usually, that was everything. However, when it comes to the Norta king, there wasn't much that he could do. He was a high house son and a prodigy, but the Norta king's word was usually always final. The only person he could rely on now was the actual head of the high house, his father.</p><p>Worried that the two teen silvers would try and escape their questioning on where they went, they split the two up into separate rooms unknown to where exactly either in the palace were. Wooyoung was sent to the most boring place on Earth (in his opinion), the library. It was built by a Norta king that the silver boy never cared about, the library becoming an archive of nearly every single written piece in the country known to man. Whether it was important documents, old folklore, and stories, whatever the mind could imagine. To bookworms, this place was probably heaven on Earth but Wooyoung couldn't see the appeal.</p><p>That's probably why they had him sent there to be guarded, nothing but shelves and shelves of written work stacked up against each other and not a single window for him to try and jump out of. Silencers stood outside of the doors to the archive, using their powers to cut off Wooyoung access to his abilities so he couldn't make some grand escape. He was stuck waiting for a whisper to finally come in and dig deep into his mind, pull out all of the information he had learned while out of the palace, and why he would even dare to take the silver prince with him.  </p><p>He can't even lie to a whisper. He was strong physically but there was simply no way that he was going to mentally overpower a whisper running through his mind. They were trained to be able to overpower even the mentally strongest of the silvers known to man. Wooyoung thought magnetrons were powerful on their own, but whispers were on a totally different level.</p><p>The silver boy dragged his fingers across the spine of the books, his eyes lazing over every word printed across them. Nothing interesting, he should have known. Nothing in the library ever interested him when he was a child. Unless his fingers stopped a rather small and skinny book, but barely peered out of its crushed space between two bigger and thicker books on either of its sides. </p><p>"The Inner Workings of a Newblood," He read aloud, his eyes widening as the words processed in his brain. A book about newbloods? When the Purification Act was put into action nearly all the work and research known about newbloods had been completely destroyed in an attempt to truly exterminate their existence from Norta. The mere fact that there was a book still in the palace and in good condition was a miracle. </p><p>Wooyoung's mind immediately went back to the Moon River Valley and what the old women had told both of the boys about what was happening at the source of the dead river. If the mysterious events surrounding the river's source wasn't from already known silvers, there was a high possibility that it was being caused by a newblood instead, some of the last newbloods standing within the borders of Norta. "Holy shit," He mumbled to himself as he snatched the book off of the shelf, turning to himself a seat to take.</p><p>The silver boy wasn't much of a reader, he didn't like books all that much either. But if it had anything to do with newbloods, the whole reason he had ran to Moon River Valley in the first place? He'd take the chance to find out anything about them. "What did she say again?" Wooyoung mumbled, aimlessly flipping through the pages. "Visions of people who weren't there and suddenly being transported back to where you've come from... anything along those lines."</p><p>He only heard stories about the wild and chaotic abilities of the newbloods. Silvers were considered gods amongst men for these unique abilities but newbloods... they were a different breed of people. They were brash and angry and their abilities were practically uncontrollable. They didn't aim to practice and perfect the abilities they inherited which lead them to be a major cause for the destruction of towns, cities, anything you'd like to name. </p><p>They were like rabid animals on the hunt when they were provoked, and Wooyoung could only imagine how they attacked in battle. He had so many questions and all he needed to do was read a book.</p><p>He stopped flipping through the book and landed on a random page, filled to the brim with neatly written notes and descriptions of the newblood the writer had researched. "Skin Changers, the Shifters..." Wooyoung mumbled allowed, soaking in the heading like it was water to a sponge. Before he could read the passages before him the door to the library opened and the silver boy immediately slammed the book shut.</p><p>"Wooyoung?" A masculine voice asked, echoing against each of the walls in the room. The boy let out a deep sigh of relief as he slid the book behind himself, standing up off of the ground to greet the adult that had just walked into the room.</p><p>The man was the spitting image of Wooyoung, just in an older sense. His hair was becoming thick with grey strands from stress and there were a few wrinkles in his skin from age, but he still seemed young. He had the same youthful face of the silver boy and even nearly identical energy giving smile that Wooyoung usually adorned. The only thing that they didn't share was the mole that sat right under Wooyoung's eye, that was unique to him.</p><p>After a moment of silence between the two, the man let out an exasperated sigh, quickly trying to air out any of the negative energy he has carried in with him. He turned towards him and Wooyoung could hear the clanging of metal against one another, noticing how the House Jung lord was adorned in several silver coated rings and brackets that hung off his wrist and fingers. That's another way the two differed from one another, Wooyoung kept his supply of metal to manipulate hanging down from his ears, he kept his on his hands. </p><p>"Have the whispers come yet?" The man asked him, putting his hands on Wooyoung's shoulders and quickly scanning over the boy's face. He was probably checking for any wounds, any minor bruises that the skin healers of the palace may not have taken care of. </p><p>He knew how Wooyoung was, shooing away healers when they'd rush to restore his almost flawless skin. The silver boy would wear those injuries like they were trophies until someone finally sat him down and fixed them. "I can't do anything if the whispers have already come and interrogated you."</p><p>The boy shook his head like a child. "No, it's just been me in this room all by myself for a little while now. They must be questioning Yeosang now then?"</p><p>"The queen herself will be questioning him," He corrected, taking a step back after giving Wooyoung a once over. The silver prince nodded in understanding, though he inwardly winced on behalf of Yeosang. The Norta queen was a whisper herself, hailing from the famed and highly recognized House Park. She wasn't very strong in her ability, not exactly trained in the art of getting a grasp on her host's mind and commanding them to do every single thing she said but the queen was wildly good at reading deep into the minds of other people.</p><p>She was probably one of the best silvers to go to when interrogating people. Every sentinel working for the palace praised her expert skills and her entire high house held her up on a pedestal for this very talent. If Yeosang was being questioned by his mother... there is no way the two could come up with a cohesive lie when the silver prince didn't stand a chance defending against the queen's abilities.</p><p>"Ah, her Majesty," Lord Jung mused, reminiscing on days Wooyoung had never lived through. "I don't blame the young prince for cracking under the pressure of Kang Seoyeon if he does. Her ability to dig deep into your mind and pull out even things you thought to have forgotten makes her a very formidable woman."</p><p>Wooyoung didn't know whether or not he could salvage and hide his little trip to Moon River Valley and hide his constant thoughts of newbloods any longer. What if the queen peers into Yeosang's mind and catches Wooyoung pleas to run and discover any remaining newbloods? What if she peers into the prince's mind and finds the old woman from Twilight and discovers the information she had laid upon them about the source of the river? He didn't want to think of the consequences, but there surely wasn't going to be a late punishment for any of the things he had done that night.</p><p>Lord Jung gave the boy a soft smile, his eyes turning into identical crescents at his son's pondering. "Are you stressed?" He asked, noticing how Wooyoung was fidgeting extensively with his hands and rocking back and forth on his heels.</p><p>"Am I supposed to be calm?" Wooyoung answered him, having nowhere to put his hands and nothing to do with them while the silent sentinels had his ability wiped clean. He couldn't even play with his metal earrings, the power to manipulate them like clay cut off from being in the presence of a silent. "The king looked mad when he saw me returning with Yeosang after sunrise and if the queen can prove that I took him out of the city, not just the palace itself, it's game over for me."</p><p>"Well, where did you take him then?" The man's cool tone took him off guard, almost enticing Wooyoung to answer immediately. He didn't know whether it was because of the man's fatherly aura he radiates when speaking to him specifically or because of the very evident political power that urged him to spill every single secret that the silver boy kept to himself. </p><p>"You think you're so sly," Wooyoung commented, turning his body away from Lord Jung protectively. </p><p>"You're not the way you are for nothing," the man snickered, playing into the silver boy's spirited jab. "You're my son after all, who else do you think gave you that face and personality?"</p><p>"My mother," He teased, a wide smile playing across his lips as he spoke.</p><p>Lord Jung gasped in fake surprise, struggling to conceal his clear adoration of his son as he spoke. "That woman? The only thing she gave you was a mole under your eye and a nasty attitude."</p><p>"Keep my mother out of your mouth," He sniped back, the two chuckling and giggling as if Wooyoung wasn't in trouble with the royal house himself. The silver boy adored his family more than he could ever adore the attention that his status as prodigy gave him, the ability to keep him on a path of ecstasy and blissfulness was something only his parents could do. </p><p>Whenever he was with them, he felt as though he could simply be a child again. That he could be the child that liked to watch the rolling waters of the Moon Valley River while it glistened in the moonbeams in the night sky. </p><p>The doors to the library slammed open, catching both of the House Jung members off guard as swiveling their heads towards the intrusion. The familiar red and orange uniform of the sentinels marked in without announcing themselves, holding the door open as they shouted towards the two. "Lord Jung! My apologies for the intrusion, but it seems as though we have given you the wrong information. Her Majesty and her fellow whisper colleagues are coming to interrogate Lord Wooyoung first, not his highness."</p><p>A scoff left the man's face upon hearing the sentinel's words, visibly having to calm himself down at the thought of being deceived by the Norta queen. "Of course she's leaving her son for last," He mumbled to himself before turning his ever softening gaze on Wooyoung. "You understand what you have to do now, right?"</p><p>"But—"</p><p>"Wooyoung," He sternly interrupted. "I cannot cover up for your mistakes if you do not tell me where you went and what you did. I can only stall the Norta royals eagerness to find just why you had taken their son on an adventure till sunrise for so long. There is only so much I can lie about with no information."</p><p>With a reluctant sigh, the boy leaned up against the wall and spoke. "Moon River Valley," He answered with a huff, though cautiously picking and choosing his words. He was going to tell to truth of what he did... just leave little parts Lord Jung didn’t need to know out. "I had overheard your conversation with someone from House Lee yesterday and they said something strange was happening there, and it intrigued me. I knew that once you brought it up House Kang we'd never hear from that situation again so I decided to take things into my own hands."</p><p>"So you went to Moon River Valley to figure out what was going on without telling anyone," He asked for confirmation and Wooyoung nodded his head. "And why did you take the prince with you, knowing the consequences if he didn't return in time?"</p><p>"Because he's my friend," Wooyoung explained. "And in two months, he's no longer just a friend who happens to be royal. In two months he will be Prince Yeosang, crowned prince of Norta and engaged to some random girl after the Queenstrial. He's just a kid, he's only a few months older than me, and in two months my friend won't be able to live like a teenager anymore, that’s if to say he was living like one at all."</p><p>The conversation was reminiscent of when Wooyoung and Ryunjin had spoken the night before, earning the same look of pity that Ryunjin had given him from his father. The silver boy was so desperately attached to this sense of freedom, this sense of childhood that he refused to let it go. Seeing his friend being forced to grow up faster than he can age? It made his stomach churn with anxiety and stress. </p><p>"I know this is hard for you, to watch a close friend of yours suddenly mature themselves at a more rapid pace than you expected," Lord Jung sympathized, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. There was a sense of understanding in his words as if the man had lived the same experiences as Wooyoung. "But life goes on and you cannot be a child forever. Both you and Yeosang have great things ahead of you as children of high houses, this goes for San and Ryunjin as well. You have to adapt, even if that means losing something you kept so dear to you like a childhood. Maybe sometime in the future, you can regain such a wonderful moment you cherish."</p><p>"Did..." Wooyoung faltered, embarrassed that he was even asking this question. "Did you have to give up your childhood to mature?"</p><p>"Yes," He answered, ruffling the boy's hair to cut the odd tension between the two. "But I didn't have to lose it forever. When I met your mother and you came into my life, it returned. It returned in the form of a young boy who grew to become a brilliant young man who became House Jung's prodigy."</p><p>"That's so..." Wooyoung stopped for a moment before ducking away from the man's hand. "That was so gross and cheesy... couldn't you have just told me you found it in the form of a battle or some political gain or something? I'd even take it in reconnecting with old friends, that was just nasty."</p><p>"You asked." Lord Jung reminded him. "And I answered."</p><hr/><p>"Ladies one the left, lords on the right." A woman instructed, clapping her hands together to catch everyone's attention. The group of teens groaned in response to the woman's demands, unwillingly forming two separate lines in the middle of the floor. Today was a different type of training, training that did not include the rough and tough battles that the silver children were always so eager to partake in. Instead, they were dancing. </p><p>The group of silver children was all standing inside a large ballroom, it's walls coated in ivory white and gold accents that glittered when the sunlight from the windows hit them just right. The giant golden chandelier softly swung every so often when a breeze from the outdoors would swoop in and Wooyoung would watch it away from its reflection on the marble floor. From a small contraption on the ground played a faint and elegant song, echoing through the large room and pounding into the ears of the silver children.</p><p>It's been a month since Wooyoung had run to the Moon River Valley with Yeosang and he hadn't gone back since. He promised his father that he would not do such a reckless act again until after the Queenstrial so he had been stuck in the palace and Del Mundo since then. He did take this time to hang out with his friends more often than usual, trying to keep a tight grip on that little silvery of childish freedom they all had left. </p><p>It went pretty smoothly with San and Ryunjin, they were almost always free to run around the palace and Del Mundo to cause their usual disruption to their surroundings. The only time Ryunjin wasn't able to go on their wild shenanigans was when her brother had returned from the Lakelands one day in the middle of the last month. She was ecstatic to see her brother return to the House Han and spent nearly the entire day with them. But after that, she had returned to her normal life and continued to allow herself to be pulled along by San and Wooyoung.</p><p>Yeosang was becoming less frequent of a face though. He only ever came to training maybe once every so often. He would only come to watch a match between Wooyoung and whatever silver elite dared to challenge the prodigy and then would disappear back to his chamber of royal duties. The silver boy can't even remember the last time he saw the bright red flames of House Kang lick the edges of the arena during Lord Moon's training anymore. It's a shame, seeing as there weren't any other burners in the palace to show off their abilities during training. It was only Yeosang and his father and memories of the two ever even using their abilities were fading.</p><p>"Now, I'm sure you all are aware," the woman in front of them spoke, catching Wooyoung attention away from the chandelier's reflection. She was pacing up and down the line of silver children, light on her feet as if she were a young silk girl. Though the woman was from House Jeong so that statement couldn't be any further from the truth. "The Queenstrial will finally commence in only just a few weeks from now. And what comes after the Queenstrial?"</p><p>An animosi boy's hand immediately shot up as he blurted, "Parties!"</p><p>"Precisely Lord Hwang!" She confirmed, smiling to herself at the thought of the large parties that were held after Queenstrials had taken place. It was a celebration to honor the new soon-to-be queen of Norta and her engaged and nearly every girl on the other side swooned at the thought. Not the thought of the parties, but the thought of being able to sit on the throne with the Norta royals and call yourself one of them. "I can still remember his and her majesty's Queenstrial and celebration like it was yesterday. So beautiful, so traditional, so—!"</p><p>Lord Moon cleared his throat loudly, the second echoing against the walls of the ballroom and catching Lady Jeong completely off guard. With a frustrated huff, she calmed herself turning towards the children with a solemn smile on her face. "Yes... as I was saying... we must prepare every one of you for this occasion and the women of House Jeong have graciously offered to teach you the ways of the ballroom dances."</p><p>"My apologies for interrupting, Lady Jeong," a silk girl suddenly cut in, raising her hand as she spoke so that her presence could be acknowledged. "But if I'm not mistaken, we were taught dancing as per our etiquette classes as children. Why are we doing this... now?"</p><p>With an annoyed twitch of her brow, the woman turned toward the silk girl, struggling to keep her composure. "Lady Kim," She hissed, but still tried to sound as polite as she possibly could. "Why, you were mere children when you learned these dances! We haven't had a Queenstrial since his and her Majesty got married! We wanted to give you all a reminder and we wanted to sharpen your dancing skills before the Queenstrial arrived."</p><p>"Oh the women in House Jeong are definitely doing this for themselves," San whispered to Wooyoung, earning him a playful scoff from the boy.</p><p>"Of course they are," The silver boy whispered back, keeping one eye on Lady Jeong as she struggled to keep her hands to herself. Thankfully San was in the room, though the only silent, to stop the woman from staring anything if she was finally angry enough. The House Jeong members were oblivions, and no one wanted to mess with an oblivion. "They're trying to live vicariously through us since they don't have the chance to dance with men they find attractive anymore. Stuck with their gross and snotty husbands who wouldn't dare do something so childish as to dance with their wives."</p><p>San withheld a laugh, covering his mouth and lowly snickering to himself to satisfy the urge. Though the two went completely silent when Lady Jeong's eyes scanned over them, pacing back up towards the front of the room. With a deep breath, she turned around towards the silver children with a smile on her face. "Since everyone is so adamant on saying they have already known and perfected the dances you've learned from your childhood, why don't we take a test? A quick pre-assessment to find out who needs help and who doesn't."</p><p>There was a soft groan that echoed through the room, both lines that had formed not looking forward to being wildly critiqued by a woman trying to live through them. She was going to nitpick at everyone's dancing in order to force them all to learn step by step. "Let's see... is the prince here with us today? His Highness, Prince Yeosang?"</p><p>When the said boy didn't respond, the silver children president in the room looked at each other with skeptical eyes. It seemed as though the silver prince wouldn't be joining them on this occasion of "training" either. "Prince Yeosang is currently in a meeting. He was called to be present with the king and queen during their meeting with the House Jung, Lee, and Han over important legal matters."</p><p>The voice that spoke up was the son of House Lee, Daehwi, the boy who Wooyoung quite literally demolished in the arena and sent him running back to his parents as an embarrassment. The two locked eyes with each other for a moment, a hint of smug amusement glinting in the House Lee son's eyes for knowing more important about his friend than he did. Though the silver boy shrugged off his antagonizing gaze, Wooyoung didn't need to know everything about what Yeosang did anyway.</p><p>"Quite a shame," Lady Jeong sighed, her eyes scanning over the line of silver children before her gaze finally landed on Wooyoung. "Ah yes, the pride of House Jung, the prodigy. Lord Jung, do tell, are you only a prodigy in battle or does this extend to dancing to?"</p><p>The boy shrugged, an easy going smile growing on his lips as he spoke. "I don't know, but I guess that's why we're here to find out."</p><p>Tension grew thick in the air at Wooyoung's words and he didn't need to be a whisper to figure out what Every silver child in the room was thinking. <em>Will I be a better dancer than the House Jung prodigy? Will I finally have leverage for the House Jung prodigy?</em></p><p>"Be careful," San whispered to Wooyoung. There was a feeling in the silver boy's chest that began to dissipate as if his iron grip on the metals within the room was beginning to loosen and disappear. He glanced up towards the gold chandelier, his mind focusing on the gentling swaying of the hovering object as he tried to still its movements. </p><p>Yet despite his efforts to bend what would usually be an easy metal to control, he didn't stop. San was silencing his ability, no, everyone in the room's control over their abilities. "I have a feeling someone might sabotage you to make you look bad."</p><p>Wooyoung scoffed at the thought, a cocky grin crossing his face as he silently dared every silver in the room to try and test him. </p><p>"Let's see then...," Lady Jeong mumbled, glancing among all of the girls who stood in the line separate from the silver boys. "Lord Wooyoung and Lady Han, the two of you will demonstrate what you know and periodically, I will add more pairs to the dance floor."</p><p>His smile couldn't get any wider as he turned towards Ryunjin, who until now had a bored expression on her face. Ballroom dancing wasn't her forte, she would much rather disappear into the light to go running around Del Mundo causing trouble like usual then dancing. But she sucked up her uninterest, turning towards Wooyoung with a cheeky smile on her face. This was definitely a disaster duo that had been formed.</p><p>"Lady Han," He teased, bowing at an exact 90-degree angle before holding his hand out to her.</p><p>"Lord Jung," She responded, matching his same energy as she did an overdramatic curtsy. Ryunjin took his hand and the two immediately shared a mischievous smile, one that would bring absolute chaos to the unsuspecting. Oh, what a disaster duo they were. </p><p>The two walked out into the middle of the floor, the two lines of silver children taking a step back to give them the space they needed. "Have you ever even danced before?" Wooyoung curiously asked, beginning to walk in circles.</p><p>Ryunjin followed his steps, keeping a steady space so that they were directly parallel from each other. She hummed to herself for a moment, a smile on her face as she began to reminiscence. "Once," She told him, catching Wooyoung completely off guard with her answer. Catching his surprised stare she couldn't help but laugh at him. "Once with my brother, that is. Other than that, I don't think I've danced outside of when we were like... seven in etiquette classes."</p><p>The two stopped in front of each other and Ryunjin held her hands out, waiting for Wooyoung to take them. "With your brother?" He asked, taking note of how the House Han daughter's eyes would sparkle at the mention of her brother. She must truly be excited to have her brother back at home and away from the dangers that stalked the kingdom of the Lakelands. "What special occasion did he have for you to dance with him? I remember the last time you two tried to do something nice with each other... you nearly broke his nose."</p><p>"Shut up, that's in the past." She hissed as Wooyoung giggled, his contagious laughter echoing against the walls with the whimsical music in the background. He took her hand in his before started to move again, prancing around the ballroom floor with ease as if they were silk children running through the halls. Their steps were light and graceful, just enough for Lady Jeong not to snap at them for looking like lost ducklings unlike some of the other pairs who began to dance after them. </p><p>"But... It was for my parents' anniversary about two whats ago. They held a very small scale party, just the four of us in the house with nice music and warm hearts."</p><p>"That sounds lovely," He commented, nonchalantly lifting one hand and spinning her without asking. She fumbled for a moment, completely taken off guard while Wooyoung snickered at her sudden slip up. "You should have invited me, I would have liked to see you trip all over your own two feet and step on your brother's shoes."</p><p>"It was an immediate family event only because after that my brother was called to go spying in the Lakelands," Ryunjin hissed at him, nearly falling backward if it wasn't for Wooyoung's vice grip grasp on her hands. "Plus, I think I dance rather well for only doing it seriously twice in my life, don't you think?"</p><p>"You nearly fell to the floor just now, Ryunjin." He pointed out, earning him an annoyed huff as the girl rolled her eyes at him. "I'm teasing, I'm teasing, don't take it so seriously. Plus, if you were doing bad don't you think Lady Jeong would have said something by now?"</p><p>The two sidestepped into her vision, being watched carefully by the eager House Jeong woman. It's like she had eagle eyes, snapping a pair not too far from them for having bad posture. She caught another not long after for being too far away from each other and then another for not even knowing the rather simple steps to the dance. </p><p>"I guess you're right," she said after a moment, following Wooyoung's steps as he lured them away from Lady Jeong's keen eyes. It's a shame that Yeosang wasn't here to take the dance with Ryunjin. </p><p>It would have been funny to watch the prince quite literally burn up at the thought of being in such proximity with his silly little crush. It gets even better when Ryunjin wouldn't even notice, oblivious to the silver prince's fumbling and teasing him for being such a klutz. Yeosang wasn't that clumsy, he was rather steady and poised most of the time when he was with literally anyone else. He just simply melts whenever it comes to her. </p><p>But since the silver prince was too busy with being mature and royal, Wooyoung had taken his place. He wasn't going to lie, he found enjoyment being the one Ryunjin danced with. He got a chance to tease her and to learn a little more about her even when he thought he knew it all. It was nice. </p><p>"Oh, I guess I should tell you this now while I have the chance." Ryunjin piped up. Wooyoung glanced at her with an interested gleam in his eyes, urging her to continue. "It's about the Queenstrial."</p><p>"Have you already placed your bets on who will get Yeosang's hand in marriage?" Wooyoung blurted, though it was rather quiet so that no one could overhear their conversation. He grinned as he spun you around, nonchalantly giving you a full view of the girl he had placed his bets on. She was twirling away with calculated steps as a telky boy struggled to keep her within his grasp. Her swift movements and perfect balance made her the better dance partner of the two so Wooyoung could understand why the girl was trying so hard to conceal a giggle. </p><p>"Kim Sejeong?" Ryunjin asked him, steadying herself once she had fully faced him again. "You think a silk is going to win the Queenstrial?"</p><p>"Why not?" Wooyoung shrugged. "San chose one of the House Jeong girls who conveniently isn't here today," he pointed out, glancing around the room for the said oblivion. It wasn't weird to say House Jeong held favorites to their members, allowing them to get away with nearly half as much as Wooyoung did. </p><p>Though the difference between the two of them was that the only reason he got away with the certain troublesome deeds he caused was that he was a prodigy, not because his house was obsessively projecting him.</p><p>"I'd choose the oblivion girl too honestly," Ryunjin agreed, catching Wooyoung off guard for a second. "It's a much more... flashy abilities. Very easy to get captivated and see the raw and destructive power it can cause. It's a good display of strength and potential."</p><p>That's not... like her. Usually, she was on the side of those with unseen abilities as Ryunjin had an ability that wasn't as wild and cataclysmic as other silvers. "Do you think Sejeong doesn't have a chance at winning the Queenstrial?" </p><p>"I'm saying it'll be harder for her to win, not that she doesn't stand a chance." The House Han daughter corrected him. "It'll be harder to display her strengths when being compared to someone like.... a nymph who can make beautiful displays with waterworks or a greenswarden who can make an entire forest grow just from tapping the ground with their foot once. May the heavens have mercy on her soul if someone from House Jung or House Park could compete as well."</p><p>"Alright, what's up with you?" Wooyoung quickly interjected because she could get out another word. "It's not like you to put up the more destructive silvers on a pedestal and you're being so... so cynical about it. It's super off putting— what's wrong Ryunjin, seriously?"</p><p>She hesitated to answer him, struggling to find the right words to explain herself. "When... when my brother returned home last month my parents started talking about some stuff. You know, what they were going to do with me once I'm officially of age? My brother is most likely going to be taking over as the head and representative of House Han when my father is gone and as the only daughter they want to make sure they're doing something... right with me, I guess."</p><p>Wooyoung nodded his head as he listened, continuing to dance with her but at a slower pace so he could hear everywhere that was coming out of Ryunjin's mouth. Ultimately, that was one of the worst decisions he had ever made. "They don't want me to just because another spy that's going to be sent away to the Lakelands for who knows how long, so this month they finally decided what they were doing to do with me."</p><p>And then, the unthinkable happened. "They decided they were going to put me up for Queenstrial. I'm going to be competing for Yeosang's hand, I'm competing for queen." Wooyoung stumbled over his own two feet and tripped, the silver prodigy tripped and fell hard.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Let Me Know</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“Yeah, Wooyoung?” </p>
<p>He thought about his next few words for a second, trying to make sure he didn’t say the wrong things. “How do… how do you feel about possibly being queen? Do you even want to become queen, to be betrothed to Yeosang?”</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Wooyoung softly hit his head against the white wall of the ballroom, mentally cursing himself for the unwarranted show had put on. The other silver children who hadn’t been affected by his slip up were lined up in front of Lady Jeong, listening to whatever words that were falling out of her pretentious mouth. He was one of only a handful of silver children that were with them, sitting on the sidelines and watching them complete the rest of their lessons for today. </p>
<p>Usually Wooyoung would take this as an absolute win seeing as he wasn’t obligated to follow along with the others anymore. But the boy just wasn’t feeling it anymore, all the energy he had from earlier drained from his body. </p>
<p>The fall he had taken was a lot worse than Wooyoung had expected it to be. Sure, it started out with him simply tripping over his own two feet, but when Wooyoung went down everyone went down. As soon as he felt himself begin to tumble to the ground he grabbed a hold of Ryunjin’s wrist much tighter than before and dragged her down towards the floor with him. It didn’t help with the fact that not far behind them was another pair of dancers who were a little closer than anticipated, resulting in Wooyoung and Ryunjin crashing into them as well.</p>
<p>After that it was like a chain of dominoes, everyone scrambling out of the way in a desperate attempt to not embarrass themselves in front of Lady Jeong. There were mumbles and grumbles, small little whispers of confusion as to what exactly had happened for all the silver children to have a messed up in such a way. </p>
<p>Wooyoung thought it was a little funny at first, a soft chuckle escaping his mouth as he turned to see the carnage he had created. But when he turned back to Ryunjin, expecting her to giggle the same as he was, he was met with a wave of emotions he hadn’t predicted. The girl sat down on her knees in a pool of shame, keeping her head low and trying to make sure her face was out of sight. It was then when Wooyoung realized everyone was watching not just him, but Ryunjin. </p>
<p>Wooyoung was a prodigy and one of the most powerful silver children in the room, sure but Ryunjin? There was the unfortunate possibility that she might become the next queen of Norta. That she would take Yeosang’s hand in marriage in just a month from today. They were watching her to size the House Han daughter up and to debate on whether or not she was true competition or if they could simply crush her under their foot like a red.</p>
<p>Now, it wasn’t funny to Wooyoung at all anymore.</p>
<p>After the awkward fumble Lady Jeong had decided to be a little generous and patient with them all after witnessing the disaster in front of her. She simply told all those who had slipped up from Wooyoung’s accident to take a ten minute break. No one was injured in the process but it was overwhelmingly embarrassing and disappointing to have watched each silver elite child crash in such a way. She needed a little break from them.</p>
<p>Everyone else who hadn’t been involved in the fall were instructed to keep dancing so that she can continue to monitor and tutor their steps and skills. Those who had the option to sit out did so, many leaving the ballroom to indulge in other activities before their ten minute break was up.</p>
<p>“Are you feeling better?” Ryunjin asked the silver boy crouching on her knees to be at the same level as him. Wooyoung looked towards the House Han daughter, an unspoken emotion swirling within his chest at the sight of her. He was the reason she had gone through that embarrassing fall, why was she asking him if he was okay? It should be him asking that question because who knew what would flood out of his mouth if he tried to answer truthfully.</p>
<p>“Yeah, I am,” he responded after a moment, giving her the best smile he could. “Honestly, I feel like I should be embarrassed by what happened but it’s a little too funny to take seriously,” Wooyoung lied, sitting up to match her height with his fake grin plastered across his face, “I mean did you see the way that Joochan panicked when I fell into him? He was so shocked that he sent a gust of wind blowing everyone behind him back!”</p>
<p>Ryunjin rolled her eyes at his statement, her eyes traveling towards the House Hong boy. The boy was still up on his feet, determined to save himself from the momentary humiliation by continuing to practice with the rest of the silver children. “This isn’t funny, so many people could have gotten seriously hurt,” she told him, turning back towards the silver prodigy. “You could have gotten seriously hurt if you didn’t use me as a cushion from the fall.”</p>
<p>Wooyoung snorted, not able to retort her argument. She was right, he did grab a hold of her and used the House Han daughter in order to soften his fall. Either he did or not though, he thought they would still be fine. “Well… I guess you’re right. But at least you were the one to catch me instead of the floor right? Isn't it made of marble or something?”</p>
<p>“Exactly,” She hissed at him, shooting him a glare for a second. “You could have gotten seriously hurt had you not used me as a cushion. Which means I’m the one who had a high chance of getting hurt.”</p>
<p>“Well,” the boy thought for a moment before giving her a genuine smile in return, “you didn’t get hurt. So I’d say this is a win for both of us don’t you think?” </p>
<p>Ryunjin rolled her eyes at him, responding to what he said in some sort of cheeky tone and gave him an expectant look for a reaction. Wooyoung wasn’t really focused on it though, suddenly zooming out of the conversation and reality to let his mind run wild. It was crazy to him how Ryunjin could just hold a conversation like normal with him, as if the girl hadn’t shared the most important information of their lives to him. She simply continued forward as if in a month she wouldn’t be given the chance to elevate her status and become princess, soon to be queen, of Norta.</p>
<p>Wooyoung couldn’t just let that information slide, there’s no way his brain was just going to let go of it like a feather to the wind. That was two of his close friends now who had lives ahead of them that the boy just wasn’t ready to face. They were sprinting towards a reality he didn’t want to experience, a reality he didn’t know if he would ever be ready to live in. </p>
<p>He should be happy knowing that even though Yeosang was going to be the first to walk into the light of responsibility, he’d at least have Ryunjin by his side. That is if she managed to impress the current king and queen so much that they picked a shadow over a whisper or oblivion. Plus, the silver prince was currently crushing on the House Han girl anyways, it was the perfect match and worked out perfecting in the boy’s favor!</p>
<p>So why in the world was Wooyoung so hung up on Ryunjin participating in the Queenstrial? Why was he so hung up on the fact that the king and queen or Norta could pick Ryunjin as Yeosang’s betrothed? Why was he so hung up that one day Ryunjin could become the queen of Norta, all eyes on her with Yeosang right beside her?</p>
<p>“Knock knock, you still there?” Wooyoung blinked his eyes a few times, clocking back into the world of the living and making eye contact with the House Han daughter. She gave him a skeptical look, her eyes scanning the entirety of his face to try and find out what he had been thinking about. </p>
<p>When Wooyoung’s facial expression didn’t give away anything that was on his mind, she spoke instead. “Have I gotten that boring to you, now? I didn’t expect you to take this long to finally realize I wasn’t worth the time.”</p>
<p>“What?” He quickly reacted, “no, it’s not that at all! If I wasn’t interested in being your friend I would have dropped you long ago.”</p>
<p>“Sure,” Ryunjin shrugged, a teasing smile on her face. “If that’s what you say then I’ll believe you, I guess.”</p>
<p>There was a comfortable silence that fell between the two, letting the soft classical music fill in the space they left empty. All that they could hear for those few moments besides the music was the almost in sync tapping of the silver children dancing with each other around the ballroom and Lady Jeong voice calling out words in a rhythmic fashion to keep everyone on beat. </p>
<p>“Ryunjin,” Wooyoung asked, glancing over towards the girl whose eyes were stuck on Lady Jeong. In her lap she tapped her fingers to the beat, following along with the silver elite’s words and taking small notes of everything the woman was saying. It was odd to see the House Han daughter so focused on a lesson like this, when he knew Ryunjin wasn’t really one for dancing. He guessed having the potential to become queen would call for the need to know how though.</p>
<p>“Yeah, Wooyoung?” </p>
<p>He thought about his next few words for a second, trying to make sure he didn’t say the wrong things. “How do… how do you feel about possibly being queen? Do you even want to become queen, to be betrothed to Yeosang?”</p>
<p>The girl stopped tapping to the beat, freezing in place upon hearing Wooyoung’s question. Instinctively she began to play with a strand of hair, her body phasing in and out of sight just slightly as she spoke. “I guess I’m fine with it. It’s not what I was expecting, but seeing as my brother is going to be the representative of my high house when he’s older, they needed me to do something. They didn’t want me to send me off to the Lakelands and never know if and when I’d come back.”</p>
<p>“Ryunjin—“ he tried to interrupt.</p>
<p>“—I’d rather become a queen then be sent off as a spy.” Ryunjin declared. “I think my best option is to try and become queen. Plus, it’s Yeosang! I’d rather get picked to marry Yeosang than marry some man I don’t care for.”</p>
<p>“Ryunjin!” The two looked up from where they were sitting, catching the sight of one of the silver children urging her to join the rest of them in whatever lesson Lady Jung was putting them through. It seemed as though they were missing a partner, and since Ryunjin was the only other girl in the room who didn’t seem to have one either, they called upon her. </p>
<p>“Ah… I should go,” She cautiously spoke, letting herself off the ground with a nervous huff. It had only been about five or six minutes since their tumble and Wooyoung could still feel a hint of shame radiate off her body. “They don’t seem to have a partner and everyone else took off so—“</p>
<p>“—you know you don’t have to, right?” Wooyoung pointed out. “You were the one who took the brunt of the fall after all, you should be the one getting all this time to rest, not me.”</p>
<p>“I’m fine,” the girl insisted. “Besides, I need to learn all these stupid dances anyways whether I get picked or not to feel more comfortable with it. So I might as well take the chance, right?”</p>
<p>“You’re growing up fast,” He mumbled, his heart twisting at the words that came out his mouth as she hummed in reply. Though Ryunjin didn’t seem to catch its negative connotation, waving off to Wooyoung as she hurried away. His friends were all growing up without him, beating their own personal struggles faster than he could count to ten while all he was doing was sitting around and waiting for the silver adults to give him their approval. Who knew how much longer it would take before San decided he was finally going to mature without him?</p>
<p>Did his own friends really have to be the people he gave up in his childhood just to become the silver adult that everyone was looking for? To become the talented prodigy representative of House Jung that stood side by side with the next king of Norta, with the next queen of Norta?</p>
<p>“I’m not ready for this,” Wooyoung mumbled, watching both Ryunjin and San as they waltzed around the room with their respective dance partners. His mind wandered to Yeosang, the silver prince that no one could get a hold of these days thanks to the Queenstrial drawing ever so closer to them. “I’m not ready for things to change yet.”</p>
<p>Everywhere he went within the walls of the palace, within the city of Del Mundo, was going to change for him and he wasn’t ready. He needed a place that wouldn’t change on him when he wasn’t prepared, he needed people who weren’t going to leave him behind for greater things, but where would he even go?</p>
<p>And then, a light turned on in his mind. There was a place that could provide those needs, to stabilize him until he was physically and mentally ready to finally grow up and discard the persona of Jung Wooyoung, the troublemaking silver prodigy from House Jung. </p>
<p>Moon River Valley, the dead river, home to the red village, Twilight.</p>
<hr/>
<p>“Ah, Lakelander,” the old woman’s voice echoed in the night, making Wooyoung turn on his heels. He hadn’t even noticed that she was behind him, her footsteps as light as a cat as she crept around Wooyoung and joined him at his side. </p>
<p>The boy let his shoulders fall, the tension that had built up inside of up from standing on the edge of the dead Moon River eased with the presence of the woman. The only reason he has gotten through seeing the river the first time he was here was because Yeosang was there to console him. He wasn’t good at it but the silver prince’s presence alone was enough to make Wooyoung endure whatever pain was coming to him.</p>
<p>“It seems you’ve returned to Twilight, but alone this time. Tell me, did you and your friend ever find a place to stay?” She asked him, a curious eye trying to peer into the life of their facades.</p>
<p>Wooyoung let out a deep breath, shrugging his shoulders and keeping his eyes in the channel below that used to hold a glistening pool of water. “No,” He answered, “I don’t think there’s ever going to be a place like home again.”</p>
<p>The woman nodded her head slowly, a gasp of understanding escaping her mouth as she held her hands behind her back. “Ah yes… there’s truly no place like home, isn't there? It must be hard, transitioning from your normal Lakelander ways of life into the Norta thinking, isn’t it?”</p>
<p>Wooyoung only nodded. “You’ll get used to it,” she knowingly encouraged him, “Despite all its faults, Norta is probably the best place a silver could go to prosper without any repercussions for their background.”</p>
<p>“Silver?” He repeated, turning towards the woman with a bewildered face. The old woman only laughed at him, wrinkles crinkling up at the edge of her eyes as she found amusement in Wooyoung’s confusion. How did she know that he was a silver? He didn’t spill any blood when he was with Yeosang and the two tried their best to conceal themselves with the dark colors of their cloaks blend in with their surroundings. “How did you—“</p>
<p>“It’s not that hard, young man!” She exclaimed, a grin adorning her lips as she looked up to him. “When you’ve lived as long as I have and you’ve seen as much as I’ve seen, all you need to do is take one look at a person to determine whether they’re a silver or a red. I can even guess what your ability is! Here boy, give me your hands.”</p>
<p>Cautiously Wooyoung held out his hands to the woman, his head tilting with curiosity as she took a hold of them with a gentle grip. “You’ve been worked to the bone,” She commented. “Your grip is so dainty and gentle, but your hands are big and firm compared to mine. I can feel the years of dedication and adoration, the pain and the aching, the toughening and strengthening of its power. You must be a magnetron, aren’t you?”</p>
<p>Wordlessly the boy snaked his hands away from the woman, digging in his pockets for any metal object he had on him and holding it out for the old woman to see.  Like liquid the metal began to splash around his fingertips in its unhinged state, twisting and turning as he commanded it to his will. He tensed up, his hands stopping in place as the metal formed into a ball of spikes, showcasing just a small portion of the deadly power he held.</p>
<p>“I’m a pretty good guesser, aren’t I?” The woman joked as Wooyoung turned the spiked ball back into a transportable sheet of metal.</p>
<p>“I guess you are,” He chuckled, hiding the sheet of metal within his black cloak once again as he looked up to meet the woman’s eyes again. “Tell me, does that… thing… that was near the mouth of the river still pop up sometimes? Transporting people back to their homes once they’ve gotten a little closer than wanted?”</p>
<p>She nodded her head, a deep sigh escaping her mouth. “Yes but… recently there haven’t been many people returning from the mouth anymore.” All it took was Wooyoung's curious glaze to keep the woman talking. “People would go up there and return, but recently the children have started to try and find what’s up in the source. Instead of returning like the others, they disappear up there and cannot be found again.”</p>
<p>“You know why this is bad for our people,” the woman asked, “don’t you?”</p>
<p>“Reds don’t have abilities, therefore cannot truly defend themselves from an attack that might be caused by a silver,” Wooyoung answered.</p>
<p>“My heart aches for those boys and their parents. If my son had never returned home without a trace of whether he was alive or not?” The old woman gasped, her mind racing for all the possibilities that could have happened. “I don’t think I could stay sane.” </p>
<p>One rule he had learned as a silver elite child was that silvers do not help reds. They are to stay cold and calculated around them, as a red’s most powerful strength in the unbalanced fight of this world was their words. Their words were seeping with manipulation, ready to take advantage of any silver who dared to break their cold shell and display a moment of kindness. The reds would exploit it and attempt to lead the silver to their untimely doom. </p>
<p>It was the one rule that stuck with Wooyoung for so long because it went against who he was as a person. He was one of those kindhearted silvers who just wasn’t able to create a shell of ice to keep out any incoming evils his way. When he was a child, the silver adults said it would lead to his doom but they quickly kept their mouths closed right upon learning that the warm-hearted House Jung son was the prodigy of his generation. </p>
<p>Maybe they’re right that one day Wooyoung’s melted heart would bring an end to his reign, but until that day showed itself he would simply have to prove everyone wrong.</p>
<p>“How long does it take to get to the river source from here?” Wooyoung questioned, glancing down the dead river with curious eyes. “I cannot stay in Twilight for long, but I do want to try and find this evil that’s plaguing the children of your village.”</p>
<p>“You do not have to, Lakelander,” she insisted, “in fact, I do not even recommend trying to walk that path!  We’ve lost too many young and bright children in the path that leads to the river source and I’d hate for the same to happen to you. Isn’t that other Lakelander waiting for your return?”</p>
<p>“He’ll be fine,” the silver boy answered, taking a few steps away from the woman and glancing up ahead of him. “Plus, the children who had left off on their own are young and have no means to defend themselves. I’ll be able to hold my own if I go, with it without help from anyone by my side.”</p>
<p>The woman huffed, a small hint of regret evident on their face but conforming to Wooyoung’s demands either way. She must regret giving all this information to the silver prodigy now. “Where Twilight stands now is the river channel. If the Moon River wasn’t gone it would only take about an hour or so for you to ride up the river to get you to the river’s source… but by foot? It'll take much longer to even reach its source? At least three hours at the minimum, but it could take longer.”</p>
<p>If Wooyoung wanted to go check out the river source, he'd be walking the entire way there. He had come into Twilight after following a group of reds who were leaving Del Mundo before the sun fell, hitchhiking onto their vehicle without them knowing. Wooyoung had no ability that would make him walk or run faster and he didn’t have a boat to take him up there, so did he really want to risk walking for several hours on end?</p>
<p>“That’s fine,” He declared, completely ignoring the fact that he was on a time limit for how long he could stay out of the palace. “Just point me in the direction I should be going and I’m off.”</p>
<p>The old woman pointed north of Twilight, her age-worn fingers pointing straight towards the high hills and mountains that made up the Moon River Valley. “As long as you keep North and follow the dead river’s remnants, you’ll be fine. There may be a few times you get off the original path for your own safety, but sticking as close to the river as you can is your best option.”</p>
<p>Wooyoung took note of her words, ingraining them into his mind before finally setting off and making his way towards the river source. With his metal earrings jingling along and throwing the hood of his cloak off of his head, he was mentally prepared to encounter some sort of fiend on his way to his destination. He had to, there was no way children were voluntarily disappearing the moment they walked the trail up towards the river’s source!</p>
<p>He also had to be hasty in his movements, because if he didn’t return to the palace in a fashionable time people would start to get worried. Not for the silver prodigy, no, but for his father, Lord Jung as this would be the second time he had disappeared without anyone’s knowledge. What excuse could his father make this time for him, what sneaky tactics or presentation of power could he make to get House Park’s whispers off of his back?</p>
<p>One could only imagine how they’d all scowl and scoff when they realize what Wooyoung’s been doing, running around the Moon River Valley and even daring to interact with the red people who lived there. </p>
<p><em>What did we tell you?</em> They’d ask him. <em>The reds will take advantage of you and try to kill you! They’ll do anything to see your silver blood spill whether it’s by then or another entity!</em></p>
<p>What would Yeosang say if he found out he left the palace again to go to the same place they swore they weren’t going to go back to until after the Queenstrial? Would he have expected Wooyoung to break their promise? Would he be disappointed in him if didn’t? And god forbid that Ryunjin found out where he had gone after all the trouble he had caused just a few hours before.</p>
<p>The boy shook his head as he walked through the forest that followed the Moon River, unwanted thoughts creeping up in his mind now that he was alone with himself. Wooyoung was a rather confident and rowdy person, it was in his personality to be one of the more major extroverts out of all the silver children who lived within the high houses. But the boy had his times where he’d fall into an unwanted slump, his usually unmatched energy bringing him into the deepest parts of his mind to keep him occupied for the time being.</p>
<p>So he tried to focus on other things, but there wasn’t much to look at that would make him feel better. Because the Moon River had died off and all the glistening water was gone, the forest that had grown beside the river was dying as well. </p>
<p>Without the water source, it had been using to keep itself lush and strong, the trees had begun to wither away and perish. The once tall and green trees that could be seen from miles away were now brittle and bare with not a single leaf to be found on its branches.</p>
<p>There was almost no grass left on the ground floor, only dirt that had hardened into a stone-like state. The grass that was still standing was yellows and crunchy, making the sound of leaves being stepped on in the winter whenever he walked into a patch of it. Don’t even get him started on how he had seen almost no wildlife since starting this journey of his either, only catching the sound of a crow screaming into night or a vulture soaring above his head to find its next meal.</p>
<p>“Is the trail like this for the entire walk to the river’s source?” Wooyoung mumbled to himself, his hands fumbling with one of the metal earrings he had taken out and begun to play with. “If I knew it was like this the whole time I wouldn’t have agreed to go…”</p>
<p>Wooyoung stopped in his tracks when he heard crow’s caw into the night, louder and deeper than the ones he had heard beforehand. He turned his head to look behind him and was greeted by a murder of crowd scattering into the sky, shrouding the boy in darkness as the flock flew past the moon. “If crows are flying away from something, that definitely doesn’t mean anything good for me.”</p>
<p>The silver boy stood in place for a second, watching the area the crowd were flying from carefully for any movement that could be seen. It was hard, seeing as his only light was the moon and the birds were covering it with their jet black wings, but he did see something. It was like a small spark of red light shining in the middle of the darkness and the closer it got towards Wooyoung the more wild and out of shape. It was… unnatural. Clearly, that wasn’t just the flickering of a flame or the waning of a lantern’s light.</p>
<p>Wooyoung’s breath hitched when he began to hear the humming of electricity get louder as the spark of red light and he knew this was not a friend nor bystander coming his way anymore. He didn’t have time to pull out the metal sheet he had used earlier in the night, simply going with old faithful and running his hands across his metal earrings and forming a big enough shield to hold in front of him. </p>
<p>The boy was just in time, as soon as he placed the shield in front of him a streak of red lightning bolted straight towards the silver boy. It slammed straight into the metal shield he had created, forcing the boy to skid back against the ground from the amount of force. Wooyoung gasped when he felt the shock of electricity stick to his body anyway, the metal of his shield transmitting the electricity to him for holding onto it. He dropped the shield and fell to his knees trying his best to shrug off the aching of the shock he endured. It didn’t hurt as much as getting hit with a direct bolt of lightning, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt at all.</p>
<p>“Holy shit,” Wooyoung mumbled, twitching slightly as he got up on his feet. He glanced down at his hands to find them hot and angry with a severe burn, his hands oozing with silver blood. He was surprised that that was all the injury he endured and that the lightning hadn’t completely paralyzed him but he wasn’t hoping for it to happen either way. “Am I… at a disadvantage for the first time in my life?”</p>
<p>The crows were all gone now, frightened by the bolt of lightning that had shot out what felt like nowhere. The boy held out his injured hand to the metal he had dropped, bending it into several sharp blades that he could control from afar instead of holding it in his hands. There was no way he was going to try and get up close and personal to a lightning controlling beast.</p>
<p>“Uh oh, silver boy,” a voice spoke, their footsteps getting closer and closer to Wooyoung as they spoke. He glanced up to catch the sight of a stranger, standing tall on the other side of the field with red lighting crackling at his fingertips. The stranger smiled down at him with a condescending doggish smile, running his lightning coursed hands through his peachy colored hair. “Seems like you’ve come to the wrong side of Norta.”</p>
<p>Wooyoung didn’t need to see any more of the stranger’s powers to know that he wasn’t red nor silver. Reds didn’t have any supernatural abilities in the first place and the only thing close to controlling lighting a silver could get is if he were a storm. But storms could only control the weather in a sense, not shoot lightning at the boy with such precision that he could strike him in the heart if he accurately aimed his hands at it. “Newblood,” the silver prodigy realized. “This guy is a newblood.”</p>
<p>The stranger smiled upon hearing Wooyoung’s words, pointing two fingers finger towards with as he spoke. “Born and raised. I’ll be your first and last sight of a newblood in Norta, so hold still while I take aim.”</p>
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